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

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.

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Crisis Intervention Team Training and the Protection Motivation Theory

Journal of Social Change ◽

10.5590/josc.2018.10.1.08 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Monique Allen ◽

Greg Campbell

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Crisis Intervention ◽

Police Officers ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Protection Motivation Theory ◽

Mental Illnesses ◽

Protection Motivation ◽

Motivation Theory ◽

Crisis Intervention Team ◽

Intervention Team

The problem addressed in this phenomenological study was the lack of documentation that supported the lived experiences of crisis intervention team (CIT)-trained police officers related to their field encounters with persons with mental illnesses. The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of officers among CIT-trained police officers to address the problem. The protection motivation theory was aligned closest with the teachings of CIT training as described by the study participants’ lived experiences. Participants provided the study’s collected data, which was composed of completed questionnaires and transcribed interviews. The empirical theoretical framework method of analysis used was a combination of inductive coding and theme analysis that established the results of this study. Key findings of the study identified a significant amount of frustration expressed in the lived experiences of the CIT-trained police officers. Frustration was experienced by officers who applied the protection motivation theory to ensure the well-being of persons experiencing a mental crisis. There was considerable pushback from the public mental health facilities, which added to the frustration experienced by CIT-trained police officers who attempted to navigate treatment with the limited resources available to help persons in mental crisis. The positive social change produced from this study included recommendations to police leadership and mental health advocates to encourage certain CIT-training-related practices that directly impact CIT field encounters with persons in mental crises. Specialized training may promote improved departmental outcomes such as sustainability of gains for those in crises and enable police officer accountability and reliability.

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Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand How Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training Facilitates Police Officers’ Mental Health Referrals

Community Mental Health Journal ◽

10.1007/s10597-021-00920-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael T. Compton ◽

Shaily Krishan ◽

Beth Broussard ◽

Roger Bakeman ◽

Matthew H. Fleischmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Theory Of Planned Behavior ◽

Planned Behavior ◽

Crisis Intervention ◽

Police Officers ◽

Crisis Intervention Team ◽

Mental Health Referrals ◽

Intervention Team

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

Creative and Knowledge Society ◽

10.2478/cks-2014-0001 ◽

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.

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Characteristics of Patients Referred to Psychiatric Emergency Services by Crisis Intervention Team Police Officers

Community Mental Health Journal ◽

10.1007/s10597-010-9295-3 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 579-584 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Beth Broussard ◽

Joanne A. McGriff ◽

Berivan N. Demir Neubert ◽

Barbara D’Orio ◽

Michael T. Compton

Keyword(s):

Crisis Intervention ◽

Police Officers ◽

Emergency Services ◽

Psychiatric Emergency ◽

Crisis Intervention Team ◽

Psychiatric Emergency Services ◽

Intervention Team

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

Global Mental Health ◽

10.1017/gmh.2019.31 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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The impact of the Emergency Department target upon the discharge decision for people who self-harm

Journal of Public Mental Health ◽

10.1108/jpmh-01-2019-0003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 89-97

Author(s):

Michael Brian Haslam ◽

Emma S. Jones

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Wait Time ◽

Adverse Outcomes ◽

Patient Journey ◽

Content Type ◽

Target Time ◽

Starting Point ◽

Self Harm ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the influence of the Emergency Department (ED) target wait time upon the discharge decision in ED, specifically for patients who have self-harmed. Pressures to discharge patients to avoid breaching the 4-h target wait time, potentially increase the risk of adverse responses from clinicians. For the patient who has self-harmed, such interactions may be experienced as invalidating and may result in adverse outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data analysis was applied to the retrospective referral data of a Mental Health Liaison Team (MHLT), collected over a period of 11 months from a single hospital in the North of England. In total, 734 episodes of care were referred to the team from ED, where the primary presentation was recorded as self-harm. Findings Over half of patients referred to the MHLT from ED having self-harmed were seen after already breaching the target and the potential for a more restrictive outcome reduced. Of those patients seen within 4 h, the potential for a more restrictive treatment option was increased. Practical implications Recommendations to improve the patient journey for those who have self-harmed include mental health triage and treatment in clinical areas outside of the target. Social implications This study challenges the concept of the target as being realistic and attainable for patients who have self-harmed. Originality/value This exploratory study provides a starting point from which to explore the impact of the target time upon discharge decisions and clinical outcomes specifically for those who have self-harmed.

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