Crisis Intervention Team Training Essay

I continually demonstrate a highly positive and contemporary attitude towards people with disabilities, coupled with an advanced understanding and knowledge of disabilities and their broader impacts. During my career, I have provided service to a diverse array of individuals. Specifically, in my current role as an APS 4 Compliance Officer with Centrelink, I have been responsible for providing friendly, efficient service to a range of customers, including people with disabilities. In doing so, I have gained significant insight into the many challenges and impacts of disabilities, and therefore aim to display a contemporary, supportive, and respectful attitude. Moreover, I possess excellent interpersonal skills and a high degree of empathy, allowing me to easily relate to others, and help them to accomplish their goals. Such skills are highlighted by my qualifications, as I hold a certification in Human Skills and Critical Thinking from New Intelligence. Additionally, I am a highly skilled interviewer, with the proven ability to develop and maintain exceptional professional relationships. As an APS 5 Investigator, I conducted records of interview, as well as taking numerous witness statements. Given this, I can

The crisis intervention team (CIT) program is an approach for law enforcement officers to safely respond to individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Since its inception in 1988 in Memphis Tennessee, the program has spread rapidly and has been described as “the most visible pre-booking diversion program in the United States. CIT develops a special team of officers who are meant to serve as first responders to individuals suspected of having a mental illness, are suicidal, or experiencing a mental health crisis. The goal of CIT is to reduce arrests of individuals who would more appropriately be diverted to the community mental health system. It is also meant to improve the safety of officers and civilians and it accomplishes this

“The Memphis Police Department, CIT are police-based pre booking approach with specially trained officers that provide first line response to calls involving a person with mental illness and who acts as liaisons to the mental health system. Rooted in the problem solving approach, the Memphis Model aims to address the issues underlying the reason for the call than simply incapacitating the individual and removing him or her for the community.”(Draine,J.,Ottati,V.,Schaefer,M.Watson,A.2008. pg.361) Many of the models around the

CIT is a specialized training program utilizing mental health and substance abuse experts, legal experts, consumer/family advocates, and experienced CIT officers. They teach law enforcement officers how to de-escalate unpredictable situations involving those with mental health disorders. The training is accomplished through role playing, learning about the likely behavior of

Recruiting disabled individuals who may be capable of operating in the inmate environment without any direct contact would add diversity to the field. Recruiting disabled Officers who may be capable of dispatching, allowing gate and door access, and other duties without ever coming into contact with inmates would again add diversity. Changing from past practices may bring about positive aspects and possibilities for the

Every person in the organization with a disability has a different need. Organizations work around the clock in many occasions to comply with the accommodations of each individual in the organization. Educating staff in how to comply with the requirements of ADA can be quite challenging. Organizations are afraid to hire, retain or accommodate workers with disabilities because of lack of awareness of disability and accommodations issues, concern over costs, and legal liability (Kaye et al., 2011). It is therefore the responsibility of the organization to educate management about the law and train on disabilities and accommodations. The guidelines, regulations, and building codes should be implemented to make the facility more welcoming and inviting to workers with disabilities (Stryker, R. (2013).

Expansion of the disability programs and the poor employment rates of adults with disabilities have become major concerns for Social Security and disability policy makers across the country. Disability law, culture, and policy, as reflected most directly by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), has undergone a dramatic shift toward the equal employment of persons with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, governmental, and local services, public accommodations, insurance, telecommunications, and public transportation. Dramatic, positive changes affecting the lives of persons with disabilities are occurring in public attitudes and behavior toward individuals

The Physically handicapped are maltreated in today's society. Although the teasing and maliciousness is behind more closed doors it still frequently occurs

Prior to the 1970’s, those with intellectual disabilities were placed in institutions, but after this time there was an effort to keep people with intellectual disabilities in their own communities. This change has both positive and negative implications. While this brought people with intellectual disabilities back to their communities and helped them integrate into a more normal way of life, many are now in jails or homeless.

Dr. Kelli E. Canada (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), Dr. Beth Angell (Professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work) and Professor Amy C. Watson (Jane Adams College of Social Work) conducted a qualitative research study of the effectiveness of CIT Training by reviewing how police officers describe responding to mental health calls. According to the results of this study, non-CIT trained officers fail to identify techniques they can employ to de-escalate a mental health crisis beyond the typical “command and control techniques that are provided in basic police training” (Canada, Angell and Watson 751). In fact, non-CIT Trained officers seemed to believe CIT Training simply provided training a typical officer would learn through experience over time. One officer included in the study puts this belief into perspective by stating, “…in order to gain control of a situation involving an individual with a mental illness, Tazer guns, leg shackles, and handcuffs are most helpful because they immediately make the situation unpleasant for the individual” (Canada, Angell and Watson 751). While this officer might have learned these tactics through experience, they are not tactics formally recommended by mental health care providers and are strongly discouraged in CIT Training. Nearly every CIT Trained officer included in the study, however, indicated that talking to the individual in crisis was the most helpful response tactic (Canada, Angell and Watson 751). Untrained officers included in the study indicated they made less of an attempt to listen to the individual in crisis, while CIT Trained officers indicated listening was key to safely resolving crises. The study indicates that one of the greatest differences in CIT Trained and non-CIT Trained officers in in their

An area where the disability community would like to see more financial support is in the area of training. Many members agreed that with the ongoing safety issues, SafeTracak, and the planned emergency exercises, sensitivity training for working with customers with disability and seniors citizens, is an extremely important line item in the budget. The more financial resources Metro can add to training for all customers including the disability community, it will improve the customer experience.

However, this does not mean that the police do not victimize disabled people. Disabled people face challenges in their personal life ranging being mentally or developmental delay, from being harassed by the police to the lack of understanding of their individual needs. Possible solutions to these problems include police officer undergoing CIT training, and getting to know disabled people in their communities, on a personal level. It would be judicious to recognize these steps to deal with the on-going issue. The goal is to have the police officers to have a different approach when dealing with people with disabilities and to better the partnership between the police academy and the

Several lawsuits filed against public agencies have addressed issues related to inclusive emergency management practices. Collectively, these cases have established and reaffirmed that, “emergency response plans of public agencies and private entities must specifically account for the needs of persons with disabilities.” The public agencies involved in these lawsuits have undergone widespread reforms related to the inclusivity of their emergency management programs as a result of court ordered mandates. Moving forward, all public agencies would be wise to understand the nature of these lawsuits, the complaints brought against the challenged entities, and the details of the settlement

The composition of the Criminal Justice System consists of many different divisions; thus, it is imperative that each one receives the adequate resources needed to properly function. For instance, law enforcement agencies deal with a wide variety of calls for service daily; therefore, it is critical that everyone within the agencies have the means to carry on their specific duties. Furthermore, in any case, circumstances can quickly escalate into dangerous situations; hence, minimizing liabilities is crucial. Being Taser certified can be beneficial for everyone directly involved in situations that merit the need for de-escalation. It is, therefore, in the best interest of the agencies to consider the advantages, described below, of training

“This training will take place in two 4 hour training sessions, with six weeks between, and include mini lectures, videos, and small group activities (Mcglone, 2000, p. 243).” There will be a pre-test and post test called the CCAI given to the officers, the CCAI is used in research and the social worker must be trained to evaluate such test. “After the first session feedback will be requested from the three top administrators (police chief, assistant, and training director (Mcglone, 2000, p. 243).” Officers will be given packets with information regarding cultural differences, example of such information are “white people speak loud and fast, make greater eye contact when listening, nods head or make nonverbal makers, respond quickly, and are objective; African Americans speak with affect, make direct and prolonged eye contact when speaking, but less when listening, interrupt when they can, respond quicker than their white counter parts, and use affective, emotional, and interpersonal communication when upset or passionate (Sue, 2006, p. 168).”