The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and addiction professionals, individuals who live with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, their families, and other advocates. It is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention training to help persons with mental disorders and/or addictions access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system due to illness-related behaviors. It also promotes officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis.

CIT is a program that provides the foundation necessary to promote community and statewide solutions to assist individuals with a mental illness and/or addictions. The CIT Model reduces both stigma and the need for further involvement with the criminal justice system. CIT provides a forum for effective problem solving regarding the interaction between the criminal justice and mental health care system and creates the context for sustainable change. Research shows that communities that prescribe to the CIT Program model, have higher success rates in resolving serious crisis situations.

Basic Goals:

• Develop the most compassionate and effective crisis response system that is the least intrusive in a person's life.
• To help persons with mental disorders and/or addictions access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system due to illness related behaviors.