The national implementation of 911 in the 1970’s combined with the absence of a consistent mental health crisis service system has resulted, for decades, in law enforcement serving as the first point of contact for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Unfortunately, the result for some is unnecessary periods of incarceration that worsen the symptoms of mental illness.

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training can improve the outcome of contacts between law enforcement and individuals in mental health crisis by reducing arrests of individuals with mental illness. According to NAMI,

• CIT programs create connections between law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services and individuals with mental illness and their families. Through collaborative community partnerships and intensive training, CIT improves communication, identifies mental health resources for those in crisis and ensures officer and community safety.

In addition to reducing unnecessary arrests of individuals with mental illness, NAMI states that CIT trainings

• Give police officers more tools to do their job safely and effectively. Research shows that CIT is associated with improved officer attitude and knowledge about mental illness. In Memphis, for example, CIT resulted in an 80% reduction of officer injuries during mental health crisis calls.
• Keep law enforcement’s focus on crime. Some communities have found that CIT has reduced the time officers spend responding to a mental health call. This puts officers back into the community more quickly.
• Produce cost savings. It’s difficult to estimate exactly how much diversion programs can save communities. But incarceration is costly compared to community-based treatment. For example, in Detroit an inmate with mental illness in jail costs $31,000 a year, while community-based mental health treatment costs only $10,000 a year.

*Information above was attained from Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Programs | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness

How Can Our Law Enforcement Be Trained in CIT?

The next CIT Training will be offered by Solution Point Plus, September 11-15, 2023 (40 hour training).Time each day for the training is 0800-1600ish. There will be 20 seats available for this training (first come first served). Location is not yet determined but it will be located in Southwest Iowa.  Stay tuned for more information and registration on our region website at: www.swiamhds.com

Suzanne Watson, CEO of the Southwest Iowa MHDS Region, has worked diligently to get Solution Point Plus to our region for the best Critical Incident Training and self-care training we can provide for our law enforcement. The Region's Governing Board has been gracious enough to cover the cost of the training and food each day to allow law enforcement staff to receive this training at minimal cost to their budgets. 

If you or one of your employees in the law enforcement field (Sheriff or local Police Department) would like to attend the CIT trainings in September of 2023, please reach out to Danelle Bruce at dbruce@swiamhds.org.  

Danelle will be able to provide more information about this important training.

We are also including some links below to Solution Point Plus's website and some YouTube videos on this company so you can see what they are teaching nationwide. Please forward this to any police departments within our jurisdiction so we don’t miss anyone in our area.

https://solutionpointplus.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXYhDVdBAQA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We30EJcXoRs

The CIT trainings that occurred in July and August 2022 and then again January 2023 were well received by the Law Enforcement that attended. We had approximately 56 Law Enforcement trained in CIT in those months. The feedback on the training was very positive with most attendees stating that they were very satisfied with the quality of the training and that it was extremely beneficial and that they would very likely recommend this training to others.  Here are a few pictures below from the training from July of Joe and Jesse (Solution Point Plus trainers).