scholarly journals The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Model for Law Enforcement: Creative Considerations for Enhancing University Campus Police Response to Mental Health Crisis

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Segal
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
College Campus ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Campus Police ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
Cit Model

Abstract Purpose of the article American university and college campus law enforcement, like their peers in American munipal law enforcement agencies, find themselves interacting frequently with civilians experiencing mental health disturbances. An innovative model for law enforcement, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model, has been developed to address the difficulties law enforcement professionals and civilians in mental health crisis face during encounters. (Margolis & Shtull, 2012) This article explores how CIT can enhance police response to mental health crisis on the college campus. Methodology/methods Methods of applied research were conducted, borrowing from a benchmarking model and including interviews with multiple key informants representing law enforcement and mental health. Informants were affiliated with three universities and multiple municipal jurisdictions in Virginia, USA. Scientific goal The goal was to assess the relevance of CIT on the college campus and explore creative approaches to enhancing campus police response to mental health crisis. Findings The results supported the scholarly literature regarding the efficacy of the CIT model. Creative adaptations to the CIT model for campus possibly can be implemented to address concerns of mental health crisis on campus. Conclusions CIT is a highly innovative model requiring extensive collaboration between law enforcement, mental health agencies, and mental health advocates. As standard qualitative research was not conducted, the sample size of key informants may not have reached saturation. However, findings from the interviews support the body of literature on CIT. The implementation of CIT on the college campus could possibly help to alleviate difficulties on campus arising from mental health crisis, including reducing inappropriate arrest or disciplinary action, improving campus safety, addressing concerns related to threat assessment and management, and enhancing collaborative efforts on campus and with resources in the broader community.

scholarly journals Law enforcement and mental health clinician partnerships in global mental health: outcomes for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model adaptation in Liberia, West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Boazak ◽  
Sarah Yoss ◽  
Brandon A. Kohrt ◽  
Wilfred Gwaikolo ◽  
Pat Strode ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
Cit Model

Abstract Background The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is a law enforcement strategy that aims to build alliances between the law enforcement and mental health communities. Despite its success in the United States, CIT has not been used in low- and middle-income countries. This study assesses the immediate and 9-month outcomes of CIT training on trainee knowledge and attitudes. Methods Twenty-two CIT trainees (14 law enforcement officers and eight mental health clinicians) were evaluated using pre-developed measures assessing knowledge and attitudes related to mental illness. Evaluations were conducted prior to, immediately after, and 9 months post training. Results The CIT training produced improvements both immediately and 9 months post training in knowledge and attitudes, suggesting that CIT can benefit law enforcement officers even in extremely low-resource settings with limited specialized mental health service infrastructure. Conclusion These findings support further exploration of the benefits of CIT in highly under-resourced settings.

scholarly journals Specialized Police-Based Mental Health Crisis Response: The First 10 Years of Colorado’s Crisis Intervention Team Implementation

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hari-Mandir K. Khalsa ◽  
Attila C. Denes ◽  
Diane M. Pasini-Hill ◽  
Jeffrey C. Santelli ◽  
Ross J. Baldessarini
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
Team Implementation

Mental Health Crisis Location and Police Transportation Decisions: The Impact of Crisis Intervention Team Training on Crisis Center Utilization

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin B. Comartin ◽  
Leonard Swanson ◽  
Sheryl Kubiak
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
The Impact

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) research has shown increases in officer transports of individuals with serious mental illness to emergency departments (ED) which, while more appropriate than incarceration, can be expensive and lack linkage to long-term mental health services. Mental health crisis centers offer a promising alternative, but impact may be limited by proximal distance and lack of officer awareness. To address this concern, this study asked, “Does CIT training affect officer transport decisions to a crisis center over a nearby ED?” Researchers analyzed crisis call reports in a Midwestern county and found increased use of the crisis center and decreased use of EDs by officers after CIT was implemented. The crisis location affected officer transport decisions, yet CIT officers were more likely than non-CIT officers to travel farther for appropriate linkage. Findings suggest CIT changes officer behavior, which could potentially lead to long-term, low-cost treatment for individuals with serious mental illnesses when there is a mental health crisis center.

scholarly journals Supporting people in mental health crisis in 21st-century Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 231-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Molodynski ◽  
Stephen Puntis ◽  
Em Mcallister ◽  
Hannah Wheeler ◽  
Keith Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Current System ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Health Crisis

Recent years have seen a surge in interest in mental healthcare and some reduction in stigma. Partly as a result of this, alongside a growing population and higher levels of societal distress, many more people are presenting with mental health needs, often in crisis. Systems that date back to the beginning of the National Health Service still form the basis for much care, and the current system is complex, hard to navigate and often fails people. Law enforcement services are increasingly being drawn into providing mental healthcare in the community, which most believe is inappropriate. We propose that it is now time for a fundamental root and branch review of mental health emergency care, taking into account the views of patients and the international evidence base, to ‘reset’ the balance and commission services that are humane and responsive – services that are fit for the 21st century.

scholarly journals Costs and Savings Associated With the Police Use of the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Hoffman ◽  
Jeffrey Harman ◽  
Heidi Kinsell ◽  
Gregory Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Wait Time ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluations ◽  
Intervention Team

Background: The police response to calls for service identified as being related to mental health continues to be highly controversial. Strategies to improve the police response include Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and various forms of co-response models neither of which have been subjected to comprehensive evaluations, particularly as to cost-efficiency. A new approach is the use of the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener to enhance police officer ability to identify persons with serious mental disorders. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the costs and cost efficiency of the police response to mental health calls using the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener.Method: Secondary data was analyzed from the use of the screener from 2018 to 2020 by police officers in a mid-sized Canadian city. Changes were measured in the overall number of interactions police officers had with persons with mental health disorders, the number of incidents where police officers referred the person to hospital, and the time officers remained in the emergency department.Results: A total of 6,727 assessments were completed with involuntary referrals decreasing by 30%, and voluntary referrals by 34%. The overall time police officers were involved in involuntary referrals decreased from 123 min in 2018 to 113 min in 2020. The average emergency department wait time for voluntary referrals dropped from 41 min in 2018 to 27 min in 2020, while involuntary referrals decreased from 61 min in 2018 to 42 min in 2020. Each averted involuntary referral to the emergency department resulted in a savings of $81, on average during the study period.Conclusion: An analysis of the costs and costs savings associated with the use of the screener demonstrate that it is a worthwhile investment for police services. An additional benefit is its ability to collect mental health statistics that may be useful to police leaders to justify budgets. Future studies should attempt to devise some method of collecting pre-implementation data that would reveal the true costs and cost-efficiency of using the BMHS, which have been shown to be significant in the current study however, undoubtedly are under-estimated.

scholarly journals A Review of Quality Improvement [QI] Specialised Interventions in the USA and England to Reduce the Number of Police Mental Health Crisis Detentions and Provide Support to High Intensity Utilisers [HIUs]

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Catherine B Matheson-Monnet ◽  
Paul Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Improvement Interventions ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Quality Improvement Interventions ◽  
Cit Model

Background:Key issues in both the USA and England have been how to deal appropriately and effectively with the increasing number of mental health related incidents, in particular 1) the rising number of people with mental health issues detained in police custody until they can be clinically assessed and 2) the negative impact on public safety of the high intensity service users [HIUs] who draw a disproportionate amount of emergency and crisis services and are well known to both police and mental health services.Aims and objectives:To provide an overview of what is known about current quality improvement interventions undertaken to address these two key issuesi.e.reducing both the number of police mental health crisis detention and the disproportionate amount of emergency and crisis service usage [police, ambulance, ED] from HIUs with complex mental health problems to help inform policy and practice decisions in a context of lack of best evidence and lack of evidence based studies.Methods:PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to undertake a narrative synthesis of what is known of the various quality improvement interventions that have been introduced in both the USA and England to address these two key issues. Authors’ knowledge was also used to describe two quality improvement interventions not included/not yet listed in Google Scholar or PubMed.Results:In the USA, the dominant approach to reduce mental health police detentions is the CIT model, first introduced in 1988, now increasingly implemented with the addition of the older model of police and mental health co-responder (which go back several decades earlier) to increase its effectiveness. The CIT model has been adopted and spread worldwide despite methodological shortcomings in evaluations. Although a best evidence model with increasing data being gathered on effectiveness, it has yet to become an evidence based model. The Street Triage models introduced in England in 2012 were inspired by the older police and mental health co-responder model. Despite a primarily descriptive approach and methodological shortcomings in evaluations and only a handful of studies published, ST has also been widely adopted and spread within England. Only a handful of interventions have focussed on supporting HIUs with the implementation in England of a unique model but evolving model of integrating a police officer within a multi-disciplinary mentoring style intervention which has now adopted by other English police forces and could usefully be adopted by USA police forces.Conclusion:More data need to be systematically gathered on effectiveness and analysed against a range of clear success criteria, including a cost benefit analysis of the relative merits of their different variations before and in order that they can be called evidence-based models.

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