CIT TRAINING FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS

CIT TRAINING FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS Jada Lee, Senior Operations Supervisor, VB911 Kathleen Boone, Senior Operations Supervisor, VB911 Cheryl St John, LPC MPO Andrea Bryk, VBPD

VB 911 OBJECTIVE • Improve Coordination Among Resources • Police Departments • Mental Health Resources • Hospital Systems • Jails • 911 • Community Relations

PARTNERSHIPS • Police • Sheriff’s Department • Mental Health • It is extremely important to build and maintain relationships with these partners for the CIT program to be successful

Virginia Beach CIT Coalition • Coalition of Agencies dedicated to assisting people with mental illnesses comprised of: • Government • Law Enforcement • Judiciary • Advocates • Citizens and Consumers • Health Care • Mental Health • Local and Regional Resources

VB C I T HISTORY • Why and How CIT Concept Began • How CIT for Telecommunicators Began

9-1-1 Point of Contact • 9-1-1 is routinely the point of contact for consumers and their families when there is a crisis situation • Develop a guide for call takers to follow on what information is pertinent to obtain for CIT calls • Provide the same information to consumers and their families so they will know what information to provide to the call taker when calling 9-1-1

Creating a CIT Program • Develop Core Training Team for your 9-1-1 Agency • Assign Liaison to the CIT Leadership Team for your jurisdiction • Invite staff from Public Safety, Mental Health and other subject matter experts to assist in the 9-1-1 training

Core Training Team • Discuss with CIT Leadership Team the current training in place or being developed for CIT Team Members • Core Training Team to begin gathering information used by Law Enforcement in your jurisdiction • Have Core Training Team attend Law Enforcement Training to assist in the development of 9-1-1 Training

Implementation of Program • Develop Curriculum with assistance of Public Safety and Mental Health Partners • Arrange with Public Safety Partners to attend training and assist with presentations • Open Communication with 9-1-1 Leadership Team

AGENDA • An 8 hour block of instruction includes • 0800- 0815 Introductions • 0815-0930 Overview of CIT (VB911) • 0930-0945 Break • 0945-1030 Suicide Prevention ( Guest Speaker) • 1030-1200 Hearing Voices Exercise (VB911 and Mental Health) • 1200-1300 Lunch • 1300-1430 Overview of Clinical States (Mental Health) • 1430-1445 Break • 1445-1545 PTSD (Guest Speaker) • 1545-1615 Guest Speakers from VBPD and NAMI • 1615-1700 Role Plays

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training Objectives • Objectives of the VB9-1-1 CIT Training • Understand the need for the development and implementation of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), and define the goals and objectives of the Virginia Beach Crisis Intervention Team • Explain basic definitions and the fundamentals of CIT Training • Describe commonly encountered types of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) • Identify symptoms and behaviors of SMI

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training Objectives • Describe specific strategies to use when dealing with a person experiencing a mental health crisis • Define how psychiatric and substance use disorders interact (Co-Occurring disorders) • Describe the role of psychotropic medications used in the treatment of SMI • Identify persons at risk for suicide, define specific areas of concern regarding the risk assessment of suicidal persons, and describe appropriate intervention techniques for dealing with suicidal persons

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) • Define PTSD and recognize common symptoms. • Gain a better understanding of the thinking, emotions, and behavioral challenges of individuals with PTSD in crisis situations. • History, signs and symptoms, diagnostic criteria, resistance to seeking help, and treatment • PTSD is the most prevalent mental illness encountered among military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • CIT Fundamentals • 9-1-1 routinely becomes the point of contact for consumers and their families when there is a crisis situation • The Telecommunicator will initially be the first responder with access to information that will be critical for successful intervention • SAFETY IS ALWAYS FIRST! Telecommunicators must maintain communication and identify safety concerns • Safety of the responders • Safety for the community • Safety for the person in crisis

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • CIT Fundamentals • The CIT officer must make a close connection with the person in crisis in order to work effectively with them, but this connection comes second to officer safety • If what the Telecommunicator hears makes them believe that the person in crisis may cross a safety boundary, it is critical that the officer immediately be made aware of these concerns

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • Recommend use of the “Hearing Voices” program • Role Playing • Stigma Exercise

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • It may never have occurred to you that the words LISTEN and SILENT are both spelled with the same letters

VB 9-1-1 CIT Training • Commonly encountered types of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) • Psychotic Disorders • Overview of schizophrenia • Mood Disorders • Overview of Bipolar Disorder • Personality Disorders • Two main types of PD, anti-social/borderline • Anxiety Disorders • Overview OCD, hoarding, panic disorder

Data Collection • Work with your Public Safety Partners to assist with Data Collection • Grants • Use of Force Reports • Program Success

Policy and Procedure • Policy and Procedure for CIT call handling • Police • 9-1-1

VB 9-1-1 CIT Resources • Virginia Beach Mental Health Substance Abuse Emergency Services 385-0888 • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) • Norfolk – Crisis Link – a 24/7 crisis hot line 757-622-1126 • Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center 757-627-LIFE (5433)

Contact Information Jada Lee- Virginia Beach 9-1-1 jlee@vbgov.com Kathleen Boone-Virginia Beach 9-1-1 klboone@vbgov.com Cheryl St John- Emergency Services cstjohn@vbgov.com Andrea Bryk-Virginia Beach Police Department abryk@vbgov.com

CIT TRAINING FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS