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### **Best Practices for Addressing Mental Health Crises in the Community**

July 2020 | Volume 13 | Issue 7

 It’s a familiar scenario: Officers receive a call about a  subject acting erratically. When they arrive at the scene, they recognize the  situation as a mental health crisis. This scenario could end many ways, but too  often, the individual does not receive effective mental health care that addresses  their symptoms or reduces the likelihood of subsequent police encounters. 

 Jails are overcrowded with people with mental illnesses,  and law enforcement agencies are often the first and only responders to mental  health crisis situations. Most law enforcement agencies are familiar with crisis  intervention team (CIT) training. However, many community leaders are not aware  of how CIT programs really work to address mental health crisis situations  safely and effectively and the core elements of a successful CIT program. In  late 2019, CIT International published a comprehensive guide to the CIT model, providing communities step-by-step guidance on developing successful programs. 

 Here are some highlights of the new guide, entitled *Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Programs: A  Best Practice Guide for Transforming Community Responses to Mental Health  Crises*.

##### The Goals of CIT are Broader than You Think

While CIT programs are best known for training officers in  crisis response, they are not strictly focused on improving *police* responses to crisis situations. A CIT program sets ambitious goals for the  entire crisis response system. Success requires engagement and accountability  from mental health systems, elected leaders and community members, in addition  to law enforcement. These goals include the following:
          - To improve safety for everyone involved during  law enforcement encounters with people experiencing a mental health crisis 
          - To increase connections to effective and timely  mental health services for people in mental health crisis 
          - To use law enforcement strategically during  crisis situations—such as when there is an imminent threat to safety or a  criminal concern—and increase the role of mental health professionals, peer  support specialists, and other community supports; 1  in  the long term, a CIT program should  reduce  the role of law enforcement  during mental health crisis situations and help more people get access to  mental health services and supports first 
          - To reduce the trauma that people experience  during a mental health crisis and thus contribute to their long-term recovery 

##### CIT Brings a Team Approach to Addressing Crisis Situations

CIT programs address the entire mental health crisis  situation; it’s not just about creating more work for law enforcement. The  program also addresses how mental health professionals and other supports are  involved in crisis response. CIT examines how systemic problems—like outdated  policies, poor communication, or a lack of mental health services—contribute to  crisis situations. CIT programs bring partners from across mental health and  criminal justice systems—together with community advocates—to update policies,  improve communication, identify best practices, and advocate for increased mental  health services. 

 This overhaul should be comprehensive, with every partner  looking at what it can do to improve its own organization and services and how it  communicates and coordinates with others in the crisis response system. 

##### CIT is a Governed by a Steering Committee 

CIT officers are the most visible faces of a CIT program,  but a successful CIT program is not led solely by law enforcement. CIT programs  should be governed by a steering committee made up of executives from mental  health agencies and mental health advocacy groups, along with law enforcement. 

 A successful CIT program represents an overlap of many  different constituents’ interests, including law enforcement, individuals with  mental illnesses, family members, and mental health agencies. Shared leadership  allows all interests to be represented equally. It also creates mutual  accountability and greater opportunities for sharing ideas across systems.  Finally, it allows the program to fund-raise and appeal to elected leaders with  more flexibility.

##### There is Help to Start or Sustain a CIT Program

The goals of CIT may seem challenging, but there’s  significant support for communities starting or continuing this challenge. 
          - CIT International’s  best practice guide  provides step-by-step guidance on starting your program. CIT International also  provides training of trainers, technical assistance and an annual conference to  connect with colleagues from around the world.
          - Other national organizations and their local  chapters provide assistance to local CIT programs.  NAMI  (the National Alliance on Mental  Illness), an organization of people living with mental illnesses and their  family members, advocates for CIT programs nationwide. The  International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) , CIT International, and the  National  Council for Behavioral Health , though their  One Mind Campaign ,  support CIT training, partnership with mental health agencies, and mental  health crisis response policies.
          - Many states have a robust network of CIT  programs that assist new programs, develop statewide standards, support peer-to-peer  learning and coordinate crisis response systems regionally. For the best  contact in your state, email  admin@citinternational.org . 

Law enforcement leaders have an opportunity to reach out  to partners in their community and programs across the country for support in  tackling mental health crisis situations. Read the CIT best practices guide to  learn more!

Laura Usher, MS        Independent Consultant

 Amy Watson, Ph.D.           President, CIT International Board of Directors         Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago        

References:          1. CIT advocates know that there are times when an individual with mental illness  commits a crime for which arrest is the appropriate response. Sometimes an  individual with mental illness may display criminal behavior that is unrelated  to mental health concerns or sometimes criminal behavior is so serious that an  officer has no choice but to make an arrest.

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