“Collaborative partnerships between law enforcement, mental health service providers, advocates, family members, and people with lived experience.” - Amy Watson

Sound good? That’s the foundation of the CIT Model.

“I could treat people like human beings” - Amy Watson

Police Activity is very much in the news these days, and response to mental health crises is often left in their hands.

Each of us has had experience with first responders, some trained in crisis intervention and some not. CIT Training is at least part of why our sons are alive (and not incarcerated) today.

Our guest today is Amy Watson, President of CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) International, a leader in promoting safe and humane responses to those experiencing a mental health crisis. She is also a professor at Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 CIT Basic Goals: 

• Improve Officer and Consumer Safety 
• Redirect Individuals with Mental Illness from the Judicial System to the Health Care System

We Talk About:

1. What is the CIT(Crisis Intervention Team)  program model? - and why do you personally do this work? -
2.  What does the research tell us about CIT?
3. What is CIT Training - what are the goals? Why the need?
4. What’s the cost? Who pays?
5. What’s the cost of NOT getting the training?
6. What do officers say who have had the training? Do they get pushback from other police officers?
7. How can a family member advocate for getting CIT training locally?

Links:

https://www.citinternational.org/

What is CIT?

https://vimeo.com/533695447

HBO Documentary “Ernie and Joe” - https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/ernie-and-joe