Toolkit and Resources

MO CIT Training Request Form

Councils must complete and submit the Council Training Request Form, along with a copy of their training agenda or schedule, to be considered for inclusion in the MO CIT Training Schedule calendar.

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Toolkits

All councils have been provided with a secure web-based file for storing local council documents, including presentations, meeting minutes, and more. Review the ShareFile Instructions here, or access the ShareFile link here.

It is strongly recommended that each council use ShareFile for the permanent storage of local council documents. Access has been granted to each Community Behavioral Health Liaison (CBHL). CBHLs can request additional logins by emailing admin@missouricit.org.

* All Missouri CIT Councils are required to use the items with an * (without any changes).
All other documents can be modified to fit the needs of the local area.

What is CIT?

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, developed in Memphis, TN, provides a model of specialized law enforcement expertise. Volunteer officers, based in the general patrol division, work in cooperation with the mental health system, individuals in crises, and families. CIT-trained police officers perform their usual law enforcement tasks but shift to a specialized role when a potential mental health crisis is detected.

CIT focuses on de-escalation strategies and redirects the individual from the criminal justice system to the mental health care system. In turn, the mental health care system assumes ” responsibility ” for the individual and provides directed and nonrestrictive accessibility to a full range of health care and social service options.

How Does CIT Work?

Selected or volunteer police officers and other first responders take part in a 5-day, 40-hour training program. The program includes mental health and substance use experts, legal experts, consumer and family advocates, and experienced CIT officers. Once trained, CIT officers are in place, and high-risk crisis calls are directed to on-duty CIT officers.

The CIT officer leads a police-based crisis intervention team of generalist officers. The CIT officer employs a de-escalation intervention strategy and may access ACI crisis services or transport the individual to a partnered hospital emergency room.

The mental health system assumes ” responsibility” and provides a “police-friendly” efficient turnaround time for the officer to return to regular patrol duties.

What is "More Than Just Training"?

Training is more than a “one-shot” deal. Several times a year, officers meet for debriefing meetings and in-service training to solve tactical issues, discuss different experiences and scenarios, and participate in advanced training. This allows officers to reinforce and sharpen their skills, address new problems, and build cohesiveness.

Why Does Our Community Need CIT?

Police are often the first to be called during a crisis involving people with mental illness. These crises can and have involved officer and citizen injuries or deaths.

CIT training significantly decreases injuries, deaths, and community dissent. In turn, individuals with mental illnesses are diverted to the mental health system and treatment rather than to jail or back to the streets.

Citizens become more confident in reporting crises, and police officers are better prepared to respond safely to those situations. Crisis intervention shifts from lose-lose to win-win.

 

What Are the Known Outcomes of CIT?*

  • Increasing officer/citizen safety.
  • Decreasing police liability and litigation.
  • Extending officers’ skills.
  • Increasing on-scene expertise.
  • Reducing the time officers spend at hospital emergency departments.
  • Increasing officer/community confidence.
  • Increasing professionalism.
  • Empowering officers to divert individuals with a mental illness to treatment.
  • Increasing cooperation between the criminal justice and mental health systems.
  • Establishing responsibility and accountability.
  • Decreasing arrest rates.
  • Reducing recidivism.

* (See Steadman, Deane, Borum, Morrisey, 1998; Steadman, Morrisey, Borum, Deane, 1997)

Ways Family and Friends Can Support CIT Officers During Mental Health Crisis Interventions

Mental health crises are incredibly stressful for all parties involved. Some preparation before the crisis, along with common-sense actions when the CIT officer responds, can help your friend or loved one get the care they need as soon as possible.

 

  • Find out if CIT is part of your police department.
  • When calling for police assistance, ask for a CIT officer.
  • Keep a current list of medications and doctors’ names and offer it to the CIT officer when they arrive.
  • Meet the CIT officer outside if possible and fully explain the crisis and what you would like to happen.
  • Make the CIT officer(s) aware of anything you know that upsets the person in crisis.
  • Keep all guns out of the home.
  • When the CIT officer arrives, advise them if the person is armed or has access to weapons. Remember, when weapons are involved, police concentrate on the possible threat of violence until it is neutralized.
  • Understand that the CIT officer(s) will probably ask you to wait in an area away from the person in crisis. Let the officer do their job and only help if asked.
  • Be ready to go to the hospital, but remember that not all CIT calls require a hospital visit stay. Get to know your police department. Introduce your family member or friend to the police when they are not in crisis. Call your police department and ask a CIT officer to stop by your house when they have time, or go to the police station where a CIT officer will be there.
  • Let your family members know the police are there to help.
  • Educate yourself about your family member’s or friend’s mental illness by requesting information from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

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Resource Links

Law Enforcement Crisis Resources

Missouri Crisis System Programs

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