FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2016
Indianapolis Crisis Intervention Team for Youth Training Aims to
Reduce Arrests of Youth in Mental Health Crisis
INDIANAPOLIS – Law enforcement and school resource officers are wrapping up a 40 hour trainingon how to help youth in crisis and improve the lives of school children living with a mental health condition.
***Media opportunities on Thursday, June 30, 2016 include: ***
2:30-3:00 pm“Lived Experience” speaker
3:00 -3:40 pm "The CIT experience" officer discussing brother with antisocial personality disorder
3:40 – 5:00 pmSkills Practice – Scenarios / Role Play
**Media opportunities on Friday, July 1, 2016 include: ***
10:00-11:00 am “Inpatient Facilities and Procedures Panel”
11:30 – 12:30pm Class Pictures / Networking / Lunch
12:30 – 1:00 pm Graduation Ceremony
Crisis Intervention Teams for Youthaims to divert youth with mental health needs away from the juvenile justice system and into treatment using specially trained school staff and law enforcement, and by strengthening local partnerships between law enforcement, education, and healthcare to build new processes and protocols. The 40-hour CIT for Youth training covers topics ranging from trauma, normal developmental stages, autism, depression and anxiety, bipolar disorder and much more.
Many children living with mental illnesses begin experiencing symptoms by age 14; half of those are likely not receiving treatment.Symptoms of a mental health crisis are often mistaken for delinquent behavior in school. Currently, over 60 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder.[1]CIT for Youthtrains those frequently called to respond to these incidents (predominantly law enforcement and school resource officers) in effective interaction and de-escalation techniques, as well as how to connect a youth with immediate mental health services when they are needed. The focus is getting the youth medical help rather than an arrest record.
CIT for Youth training is unique in that it is offered at no cost to attendees and is planned by volunteers representing mental health agencies, schools, hospitals, advocacy organizations, and law enforcement. Each module of the 40-hour training is presented with donated time from local experts. The largest expense of the training is the printing of the manuals – about $1200 – a cost which is usually covered by local and/or state partners.
This is the fifth annual CIT for Youth training in Indianapolis. Indianapolis has served as a model training site for other communities around the state that have implemented CIT for Youth - like Fort Wayne and New Castle. Other counties continue to send school resource officers and other youth-serving professionals to Indianapolis for this unique and intensive training opportunity.
NAMI Indiana is a grassroots public charity, strengthening and growing a statewide movement of support partners, community educators, and advocates. We are people living with and affected by serious mental illnesses, and we are the only organization of its kind in Indiana.
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Contact:
Name: Donna Yancey
Position: Indianapolis CIT Coordinator/ NAMI Indianapolis Volunteer
NAMI Indiana
317-###-####
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