Academic Training to Inform Police Responses
A National Curriculum to Enhance Police Engagement with People with Behavioral Health Issues and Developmental Disabilities
Project Description
For law enforcement officers, responding to situations involving individuals with behavioral health issues or developmental disabilities in a safe, effective manner can often present a significant challenge. This Academic Training to Enhance Police Engagement with People with Behavioral Health Issues and Developmental Disabilities is designed to enhance, implement, and evaluate crisis intervention team and disability response training for law enforcement and first responders that is academically based and transdisciplinary. Collectively, this project aims to increase access to training, technical assistance, and companion tools and resources to facilitate the adoption and implementation of multilayered approaches in police response for persons with behavioral health issues or developmental disabilities, including co-responder models, mobile crisis teams, and developmental disability specific approaches. |
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Project Design and Implementation
In order to improve police response to people with behavioral health issues or developmental disabilities, our team will:
- Develop & implement a National Curriculum to inform police responses to people with behavioral health issues and intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Develop technology solutions such as e-learning training materials
- Develop best practice guides in police response to persons with behavioral health issues or developmental disabilities
- Evaluate curriculum development and deliver training and technical assistance
- Enhance existing resources and develop new products
Law Enforcement Engagement with People with Behavioral Health Issues and Developmental Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable
In August 2020, a multi-disciplinary group of individuals with subject matter expertise in police responses to people with behavioral health issues and/or developmental disabilities convened virtually to participate in the Law Enforcement Engagement with People with Behavioral Health Issues and Developmental Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable. This roundtable was designed to inform the work of the Academic Training to Inform Police Responses by facilitating discussions related to:
- Opportunities to advance the safety and effectiveness of police engagement with people with behavioral health (BH) issues and/or developmental disabilities (DD);
- Best practices in current crisis response models and collaboration between police and service provider partners; and
- Existing and needed products and resources to support police agencies and their service provider partners in the delivery of effective responses.
The Stakeholder Roundtable hosted presentations on existing efforts in police responses to people with BH issues and/or DD. These presentations were designed to facilitate discussions of best practices in police and community responses, methods of police-mental health and police-disability collaboration, and potential barriers to effective responses to people with BH issues and/or DD. The presenters included:
Presenter | Topic |
---|---|
Dr. Rebecca Neusteter Director, University of Chicago Health Lab |
Understanding Police Response through Examining 911 Call for Service Data |
Ariel Simms, Esq. Senior Program Manager & Attorney, The Arc of the United States |
The Arc of the United States’ National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability Pathways to Justice® Initiative |
Assistant Chief Kevin Hall Tucson (AZ) Police Department |
Tucson Police Department’s Mental Health Support Team (MHST) |
Peggy Heil Behavioral Health Specialist, Colorado Division of Criminal Justice |
Integrated Dispatch and Crisis Service Response |
Assistant Chief Wendy Baimbridge Houston (TX) Police Department |
Houston Police Department’s Mental Health Division |
Tim Black Director of Consulting, White Bird Clinic |
Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS; Eugene, OR) |
Chief Gina Hawkins Fayetteville (NC) Police Department |
Fayetteville Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) |
Dr. Margie Balfour Chief of Quality and Clinical Innovation, Connections Health Solutions Associate Professor of Psychiatry; University of Arizona |
Southern Arizona’s Crisis Response Center and Crisis System |
A full report of the Law Enforcement Engagement with People with Behavioral Health Issues and Developmental Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable can be found here. This report provides:
- An account of the planning and delivery of the Roundtable, including the processes for participant selection and activities across the two-day meeting;
- A description of the major themes of the discussions, polls, and survey responses generated by the Stakeholder Roundtable participants; and
- Recommendations for future efforts to facilitate collaborative responses to people with BH issues and/or DD within communities.
Transforming Dispatch and Crisis Response Services: Meeting Challenges with Innovation Webinar
Webinar Description:
Historically, law enforcement has been the default response to all 911 calls for service, including incidents involving individuals experiencing crises related to behavioral health disorders and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities. It has been observed that many of these incidents are service-based calls, where the presence of law enforcement may not be needed. In recent years, communities have increased efforts to reorganize their crisis response systems, training 911 call-takers and dispatchers to shift away from directing law enforcement as first responders to these calls. This webinar features four programs that have leveraged the training, policies, and procedures of 911 call-takers and dispatch when restructuring their community’s response to crisis incidents. Panelists present the innovative approaches in crisis response implemented by their programs and discuss the challenges of ensuring appropriate services are dispatched to crisis incidents to best meet the needs of individuals.
Presentations:
- Training of CIT Dispatch Trainers
Ruth H. Simera, Med, LSW; Executive Director
Coordinating Centers of Excellence, Northeast Ohio Medical University
- Colorado Justice Mental Health Collaboration Program: Dispatch / Crisis Services Collaboration
Peggy Heil, LCSW; Behavioral Health Specialist
Colorado Division of Criminal Justice
Abigail S. Tucker, PsyD
SHE Consulting, LLC
- Albuquerque Police Department’s IDD Training for Telecommunicators
Ben Melendrez, Detective
Albuquerque (NM) Police Department
- Transitioning 911 Response: San Francisco’s Street Crisis Response Team (SCRT) Pilot Program
Robert Smuts, Deputy Director
San Francisco Department of Emergency Management
Simon Pang, Section Chief of Community Paramedicine
San Francisco Fire Department
Project Partners
Supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this training initiative brings together experts in law enforcement, mental and behavioral health, curriculum development, and evaluation to raise awareness in the law enforcement community about the nature and needs of persons with behavioral health issues or developmental disabilities to facilitate the use of evidence-based and best practices in law enforcement response. More information on the Academic Training partner organizations can be found here.
Resources
- Academic Training to Inform Police Responses Best Practice Guide
- Assessing the Impact of Crisis Intervention Teams
- Assessing the Impact of Co-Responder Team Programs
- Law Enforcement-Based Case Management Services
- Assessing the Impact of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD)
- Assessing the Impact of Mobile Crisis Teams
- Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Police Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit
- Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration (JMHCP) Program
- Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center: Police Mental Health Collaborations
- International Association of Chiefs of Police’s (IACP) One Mind Campaign
- National League of Cities (NLC): Addressing Mental Health, Substance Use, and Homelessness
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMSHA’s) GAINS (Gather, Assess, Integrate, Network, and Stimulate) Center
- The Arc of the United States’ Pathways to Justice®