Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Simsbury Public Library
725 Hopmeadow St, Simsbury, Connecticut 06070
Learn more about Crisis Intervention Teams and Join us for a conversation with Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT) Police Officers Officer Lauren Devin – Simsbury Police Department & Officer Sue Bowman – Windsor Police Department
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.
The lack of mental health crisis services across the U.S. has resulted in law enforcement officers serving as first responders to most crises. A Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is an innovative, community-based approach to improve the outcomes of these encounters.
Community partnerships are the key to a successful CIT program. Learn more about CIT and help to build a coalition of support by forming close partnerships with our local police agencies.
Diversion programs like CIT reduce arrests of people with mental illness while simultaneously increasing the likelihood that individuals will receive mental health services.
“Today, 1 in 5 people in jails and prisons in this country live with a mental illness. About 70 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental health condition. This criminalization of mental illness is tragic and it’s wrong. Instead of getting people with mental illness the treatment and support they need, our society too often puts them in jails or prisons, which are the worst places for recovery.”
Mary Gilberti, J.D., NAMI National CEO
