This 5-day course follows the National Institute for Corrections (NIC) model: strategies and techniques that allow corrections staff, mental health service providers and advocates to work together to develop and implement a crisis intervention team. The teams help reduce crisis situations, improve safety, and promote better outcomes for persons with mental illness. 

Teams will learn the core elements of Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for managing mental illness in correctional settings and how to implement a CIT model that takes a team approach that engages community stakeholders, including correctional agencies, local mental health agencies, and family advocacy groups. The learner will obtain the knowledge and skills to effectively interact with mentally disordered inmates, some of whom may be presenting acute behavioral disturbances.

The learner will  be able to:

 Improve their  interaction with mentally disordered inmates demonstrating acute behavioral disturbance during a crisis situation.

 Identify potential suicidal behavior and other mentally disordered behavior.

 Effectively apply crisis intervention, de-escalation, and life saving techniques.

 Respond to agitated chaotic events and perform lifesaving techniques used in the preservation of life during an attempted suicide.

 Preserve a crime scene and prepare an incident report.

 Apply a Humane Restraint 6 -point system.

 Apply de-escalation techniques while utilizing the Emergency Restraint Chair (ERC).

 Apply WRAP restraint device to mentally Ill inmates.

 Understand Use of Force and avoid a deliberate indifference standard.                                                              

Learners will be challenged, mentored and guided through the course alongside an assigned group of instructors.