By Gary Cattabriga, Ronald Deprez, Amy Kinner, Mary Louie, and Richard Lumb
ABSTRACT: To address the needs of county jail inmates with mental health and substance abuse problems and the limited resources available to help them during incarceration, NAMI Maine developed a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training program to educate law enforcement and correctional officer teams to successfully identify mental health-based problems and appropriately intervene in psychiatric emergencies. The two-year expansion program builds upon a pilot project at one county jail that was completed in 2005. This study, conducted by the University of New England's Center for Health Policy, Planning and Research (CHRRP), evaluates the effectiveness of the seven-county expansion program, particularly its effectiveness among correctional officers, who have not traditionally been included in CIT training.
This blog is funded by a contract from the National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.