Police Intervention Model

Intervention Team Model of Police Response to Mental Health Crises: A Primer for Mental Health Practitioners” contains a section titled “The Role of MH Clinicians in Success of the Model”, the authors cite the following: “Mental health agencies often serve individuals that have contacts with the police and, at times, clinician and officer professional paths cross around client needs. These interactions may be initiated by clinicians when police assistance is needed to address safety issues clinicians may ask police to conduct well being checks or call them for assistance with a client in crisis. Clinicians may also advise clients and families to contact 911 for assistance in crisis situations, thus summoning the police. Police officers
initiate these interactions when they transport persons in crisis to emergency rooms and crisis centers. They may also request clinician assistance, guidance and information when responding to situations involving persons in crisis” (p.5).
Basically, the statement above is an example of the process between law enforcement and mental health professionals during the course of crisis and how they rely upon each other while assisting a person in crisis (Fulambarker & Watson, 2012). In the conclusion, Fulambarker and Watson (2012) advise “At minimum, clinicians should be aware of what the CIT model is, if their community has such a program, and if so, how to utilize CIT officers when situations require police involvement” (p.6). The authors also go on to encourage mental health clinicians to stay up to date on the latest CIT initiatives for the purpose of assisting to encourage successful strategic planning for the success of their local crisis intervention programs (Fulambarker & Watson, 2012).
Youth & School Populations Perspective Another element if crisis intervention training is specifically geared toward juveniles, or youth, of varying ages and levels of education (K-12).
One aspect of CIT training is geared towards the depressed youth who are at risk of committing suicide. Within the section titled “Mental Health by the Numbers: Consequences of Lack of Treatment” on the NAMI website, the statistics are based on a 1999 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this section, 90% of suicides committed by children are the result of mental health issues (NAMI, 2015). The mental health approach for youth focuses on crisis variables within varying age ranges and developmental phases. Although adults may be diagnosed with the same mental health issues, aspects of youth mental health are geared towards this group in training seminars provided by school districts across the United States. In fact, the Clear Creek School District in the Houston, Texas area provides an introductory training course for teachers and law enforcement. The 8-hour Youth Mental Health First Aid USA course for adults assisting young people is lead by local school counselors specializing in youth mental health issues. During training, the instructors discuss current mental health challenges and disorders in the youth population. In Section 2 of the training manual by Kitchner (2012), the following mental health first aid challenges and disorders in young people are discussed: depression, anxiety, eating
disorders, psychosis, substance use, attention deficit disorder, and disruptive behavior disorders (p.vii-viii). For purposes of clarification, the definition of the disorder is discussed as well as the risk factors and a mental health first aid action plan is presented in each sub-section. For more information on this training, the following site is available as the direct resource: http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/cs/take-a-course/course-types/youth/. As previously mentioned in the CIT Training and Preparation section, educational system in Greece is involved in preparing culturally relevant CIT models for implementation within the youth consumer population.
The basis of research by Dimitropoulou, Hatzichristiou, Issari, Lampropoulou, and Lykitsakou (2011) in the article, “The development of a multi-level model for crisis preparedness and intervention in the Greek educational system”, is to introduce the methods in which the Greek government plans to assist school age youth experiencing varying crises. The overall proposal by Dimitropoulou et al. (2011) present a three-perspective model addressing “leading models of school crisis preparedness and intervention as well as cultural considerations for contextually crisis response; b) a description of existing crisis intervention practices in Greek schools; and c) a model for crisis preparedness and intervention based on specific needs and characteristics of the Greek context”
(p.464).
Benefits
The creation, growth, and implementation of CIT in the U.S. and other countries are used as a tool for the betterment of the communities being served. Although there are critics of the CIT implementation process, the benefits appear to outweigh the potential risk involved if CIT was not an option for those at risk as well as the community in which they reside. The people in crisis are encountering individuals trained to react properly to their needs as mentioned throughout the previous sections. When looking at the overall impact of CIT, the monetary drain on mental health is significant. According the NAMI General Mental Health Facts handout (2015), there are mental health issues in shelters with “approximately 26% of homeless” adult resident living with “serious mental illness” (p.1). NAMI (2015) also mentions prisoners in state institutions with mental health conditions are present at the rate of 24% of the overall state prison population (p.1). Furthermore, the economic impact of serious mental health is an estimated 193.2 Billion dollars in lost earnings per year (NAMI, 2015). Another example of budgetary impact is the use of CIT in Tucson, Arizona. In 2011, the Tucson Police Departments Mental Health Support Team partnered with the Crisis Response Center and the Community Partnership of Arizona to reduce jail time of mental health consumers and city spending. According to an article in Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine authored by Bailer (2014), it states, “In 2012, we were able to reduce the time that a person with serious mental illness stayed in jail from 22 days to just under 5” resulting “in a 2.6 million reduction in jail costs” (p.4). This saving is a benefit to the taxpayer and to the strain on law enforcement while also assisting those with mental health needs in the Tucson area. With the reduction of mental health incidences and positive financial impact in mind, CIT is a benefit to the community being served by mental health professionals and law enforcement organizations in the United States of America as well as across the globe. The models being utilized by countries outside the U.S. may not directly reflect the domestic models of CIT, but the service is being offered and the mental health issues of their communities are being addressed.