Program Honored During IUP, IRMC Pennsylvania Mountains Rural Health Conference
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Police Academy, part of the IUP Criminal Justice Training Academy, has partnered with the Armstrong-Indiana Behavioral and Developmental Health Program to provide Crisis Intervention Team training for first responders.
IUP Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lara Luetkehans (left) presents a certificate of appreciation to IUP Criminal Justice Training Academy Director Marcia Cole in recognition of the Crisis Intervention Training program. The certificate was presented at the IUP-Indiana Regional Medical Center’s third annual Pennsylvania Mountains Rural Health Conference.
The 40-hour training prepares police, first responders, community providers, and the behavioral health and criminal justice systems to better collaborate and communicate in order to promote an appropriate response to individuals during and after a mental health crisis, said Marcia Cole, director of IUP’s Criminal Justice Training Academy, who led the initiative for the program.
The initiative was recognized with a certificate of appreciation during the IUP-Indiana Regional Medical Center’s third annual Pennsylvania Mountains Rural Health Conference on November 21, “Cultivating Wellness—Advancing Rural Mental Health Awareness, Research, Services, and Careers,” which celebrates National Rural Health Day.
Cole accepted the certificate presented during the conference.
“It’s very gratifying to have our training recognized at this event,” she said.
“There are so many people in our community who continue to dedicate their professional lives to helping people in crisis, including mental health challenges,” she said. “We are very humbled to be in the company of these community leaders.”
“This training has been offered in some of our surrounding counties and has been well received, but we’ve not had this training offered in Indiana County,” she said. “We’ve spent about a year developing the training, with the goal of having at least one CIT-trained officer in each of the county’s police departments,” she said.
The first CIT training will be offered in April 2025, free of charge to first responders because of the financial support from the IUP Police Academy and the Armstrong-Indiana Behavioral and Developmental Health Program. Persons who complete the training will be certified as a CIT Team member.
Emphasis during the training is put on the knowledge of mental health, crisis resolution, de-escalation and access to community services, and focus on improving the crisis response system, advocating for additional services, increasing officer insight into their own well-being— and strengthening partnerships across our communities long after the training.
As part of the development of the CIT training program, Cole piloted the training to 19 IUP Police Academy cadets in November, with very positive results.
“The cadets felt that the program was very beneficial and provided training and information that they felt they would use in their careers,” Cole said. “Not only did they learn valuable information from the presenters, the cadets also learned about what resources are available to members of the community who are in need of support,” she said.
“IUP has the perfect location to offer the program, and Indiana County and our region have extremely skilled and knowledgeable professionals who were all excited and willing to be part of the training,” Cole said.
“Mental health is a major issue in every community—not just the persons that are served by first responders, but also our first responders, who are called on to deal with very challenging circumstances. Training like this helps to prepare them to respond to persons they are called to assist as well as better understand mental health issues,” Cole said,
“In addition to the information presented during the class, the cadets were impressed with the resources available in the community and now feel much better prepared to connect people with the agencies and individuals available to help them, including addressing the root causes of the issues that they are facing,” she said.
“I’m very happy to have our cadets as the first CIT-certified class,” Cole said. “This also gives our soon-to-be graduates another important skill as they begin their career in law enforcement,” Cole said.
Partners for the program include Indiana Armstrong County Juvenile Probation; Indiana and Armstrong County Office of the District Attorney; Indiana County Department of Public Safety; Mental Health America of Southwestern Pennsylvania, National Alliance on Mental Illness Keystone PA; Indiana County Department of Human Services; and the Indiana County Police Chiefs.
The mission of the Southwest Pennsylvania Regional Crisis Intervention Team is to promote a best practice of response as well as increase community and systems collaboration for first responders with respect to the treatment of those with mental illness. The training provides officers with the best quality training to become part of a specialized team that can safely and effectively respond to a mental health crisis.
Additional goals of the training include:
- utilize de-escalation techniques and community resources to create best practices for responding to individuals in a mental health crisis;
- increase collaboration between law enforcement and the various community providers and systems;
- educate law enforcement to reduce the stigma of mental health;
- decrease number of arrests and involvement with the criminal justice system;
- increase first responder safety and awareness in a mental health crisis situation; and
- reduce the need for intensive police interventions and the likelihood of confrontations between law enforcement and community members.
The Crisis Intervention Training was first introduced by the Memphis Tennessee Police Department in 1988 as an innovative program of police-based crisis intervention involving community partnerships.
Topics addressed during training included “Introduction to Clinical Mental Illness,” “Psychiatric Medications,” “Juveniles,” “Borderline Personality Disorder,” “Lived Experience ‘In Our Own Voices’,” “Domestic Violence,” “Armstrong/Indiana Crisis Program,” “Vicarious Trauma,” “ACT Team, Mobile Competency Restoration Team,” “Suicide Prevention,” “Impact of Suicide,” “Family Perspectives on Mental Health and Suicide,” “Hearing Voices,” “Rights and Civil Commitments 201/302,” “Motivational Interviewing Techniques,” “Death Notifications,” “Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders,” “Basic Strategies of De-escalation, Advanced Verbal De-escalation Techniques, and Role Playing,” “Legal Aspects,” “Older Adults,” “Veterans Issues for Law Enforcement,” “Suicide Prevention for Veterans,” “Veterans Court/VJO,” and a presentation by a veteran.
Presenters represented the following agencies and organizations: IUP Criminal Justice Training Academy, IUP Office of Public Safety, IUP Department of Counseling and Human Development, Community Guidance Center, HCQU West, Alice Paul House, Open Door, McKeesport Police Department, Indiana County Drug and Alcohol Commission, IRMC Behavioral Health Services, Suicide Task Force of Indiana County, Armstrong-Indiana Behavioral and Developmental Health Program, Pennsylvania State Police, Indiana County Coroner, Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission, Indiana County District Attorney, James E. Van Zandt Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Department of Veteran’s Affairs.