CIT to Use Expansion Award for Data Collection to Additional Police Departments

The County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services (ADM) Board received a 2023 Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Support and Expansion Award, it was announced early this month, from the Northeast Ohio Medical University’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence.

CIT training provides law enforcement and first responders with the opportunity to learn from mental health professionals, advocates, and people living with mental illness in order to improve the methods used to respond to those experiencing mental health crises.

The Northeast Ohio Medical University’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence award will provide over $13,000 to continue to fund the administrative side of the CIT program, including the expansion of data collection. The program’s administrators say they hope to add 3-6 police departments to the CIT program’s data collection efforts, which will help identify areas of need within the CIT training courses.

“The Summit County ADM Board appreciates being selected for the 2023 CIT Support and Expansion Award through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence at NEOMED,” ADM Clinical Director Dr. Doug Smith said. “The grant will help to enhance data collection about mental health crisis encounters so that training and the crisis response continuum can be enhanced.”

For more information about the CIT program, visit https://www.admboard.org/crisis-intervention-team-cit.aspx. To learn more about the CIT program, visit the ADM Board YouTube channel.