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North
Carolina’s First Year of CIT As most NAMI folks know, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is a pre-booking jail diversion program that had its origins in Memphis, Tennessee back in 1988. It exists primarily because, after a tragic shooting, NAMI members demanded that local law enforcement learn to understand and communicate with the mentally ill, especially during a period of crisis. The overall goal of the CIT training program is to treat mental illness as a disease, not a crime. The secondary goal is to reduce stigma. The program is based on a community partnership consisting of law enforcement officers, mental health providers and mental health consumers and family members. The Wake County CIT program was the first program initiated by local NAMI advocates and dedicated human services staff who wouldn’t give up on the idea that it would work in Wake County (WC). After several years of knocking on the local law enforcement doors, with the help of Dr. Bob Kurtz from the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, we obtained financial support from the Governor’s Advocacy Council to pay for a luncheon to get Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis PD to tell the Memphis story. That convinced three Wake law enforcement agencies to give it a try (Cary PD, Raleigh PD, and Wake County Sheriff’s Office.) A team of trainers representing these law enforcement agencies, Wake County Human Services, and NAMI Wake traveled to Memphis. When we returned, we developed our own curriculum, recruited speakers, and graduated our first class of 30 officers in September 2005. In addition to the original law enforcement agencies that started the program, we now have additional WC municipalities that have joined in, including Apex, Morrisville, Garner, and Wendell. We graduated our fifth class this September, and we are very proud to have trained 150 CIT officers. In addition to getting the Wake County CIT program well on its way, we have trained future trainers for start-up programs in Durham, Forsyth (including Winston Salem PD), and Vance Counties. Also, NAMI members, Bonnie Currie (Pitt) and Ernie Hayman (Carteret) also completed the program so they can be better informed as they get programs started in their counties. In September, the Wake County CIT Team was proud to lend a hand as the Five County LME (Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Vance and Warren) held its first training class. Their CIT program is patterned after the WC program, but modified to address the more rural characteristics of their counties. To a large extent, the instructors were local experts working in their community with people from WC pitching in to assist in the training. There is no local NAMI affiliate in the Five County area so NAMI Wake was there to provide a family member’s perspective about mental illness, diagnosis, treatment and the road to recovery. In particular, we provide the “bridge” from the officers to the mentally ill. Our experiences provide the emotional piece to mental illness. For example, we try to help them visualize their sick child (mother or father, friend) in the backseat of their police car in handcuffs and leg shackles in an unstable emotional state as they are transported to (or from) a treatment facility. The CIT program in Wake County will celebrate its first annual officers’ recognition luncheon on October 6, featuring author Pete Earley, speaking about his book “Crazy.” Local mayors, commissioners, members of the state general assembly and community leaders will be on hand to celebrate with us. The success of the CIT program will be measured and reported as number of jail diversions and other performance indicators including the reduction of officer time associated with custody transfers and courthouse appearances. What is needed, however, is a quantifiable measure of how the CIT program has changed the officer’s perspective with regard to the mentally ill individuals and the officer’s role in the community. For example, CIT officers sometimes stop by and check on a mentally ill person whom they have recently had to de-escalate from a crisis. They are able to communicate on a first name basis. Some drop by at the psychosocial clubhouse and have a cup of coffee or lunch with the members. The barriers that once existed between the officers and the mentally ill are slowly disappearing, in fact, we are encouraged when a mentally ill person asks for a CIT officer when they find themselves in a difficult situation. And the community is becoming aware of this new program. Because of a recent article in the local news paper about the CIT program, an officer with 11 years experience in his department received a hand written thank you letter from a 72 year old woman who applauded his recent efforts. I asked him how many times he had received a thank you letter from a person in his community. This was his first. If the smile on his face was any indication, it probably won’t be his last. For more information about starting a CIT program in your area, contact Gerry Akland at gakland@nc.rr.com, 919-266-0766, or NAMI North Carolina at mail@naminc.org, or call 1-800-451-9682.
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