The provincial government announced on Monday, March 20, 2023, that they will be providing $2.1 million to establish a dedicated Integrated Missing Persons Response Unit.
The hope is that the investment will reduce the number of missing adults and children across the province and provide co-ordinated inter-agency supports to those that go missing chronically.
“Manitoba has seen high rates of missing persons over the last several years and in 2021, 63 per cent of missing children were runaway girls,” said Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen. “This is an unacceptable reality, and our government is taking concrete action to intervene, protect children and families, and ensure the safety of our youth.”
The investment will require co-ordination of police agencies, support services and community-services providers to assist in identifying and managing chronic missing persons in a responsive and co-ordinated way.
Under the new initiative , the Winnipeg Police Service and its specialized missing persons co-ordinators would become the centralized intake for the provincewide response.
“Having dedicated missing persons co-ordinators available 24-7 will provide consistent missing persons reporting no matter where you are in the province. The missing persons co-ordinators have the ability to immediately assess the risk, share information between police agencies, and assign the appropriate resources,” said Chief Danny Smyth, Winnipeg Police Service. “This enhanced co-ordination ensures a timely investigation, and an effective way to liaise with families concerned about loved ones who are missing.”
As part of the effort, dedicated Child and Family Services (CFS) resources will be allocated within the integrated response unit to allow for a collaborative response, and support the CFS system and police in ensuring appropriate plans and responses are in place for youth in care who go missing.
