Gordon Graham
Category: Corrections

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for corrections officers and it deals with Crisis Intervention Team (C-I-T) training for jail staff. 

C-I-T isn’t going to qualify you as a mental health counselor or therapist. But it can help you recognize some apparent signs and symptoms of crisis.

Millions of people with mental health issues are booked into jails each year. Everyone in public safety has seen this to some extent. It’s nothing new. 

Crisis intervention team training has been around law enforcement for a while. It is gaining steam in corrections, too. It makes sense to provide similar training to corrections officers. It’s important to do what we can to help corrections officers learn to recognize and respond to people in crisis. The same principles that have been successful on the streets can be work in jails too. 

C-I-T isn’t going to qualify you as a mental health counselor or therapist. But it can help you recognize some apparent signs and symptoms of crisis. It can also help equip you with tools and techniques that you can use to diffuse situations in a professional, competent, and empathetic manner.  

Predictable is preventable.  It is predictable that inmates will suffer mental health crises while they are in jail. C-I-T training can help prevent injuries and other tragedies.  

Many C.I.T training programs are inexpensive. Some are even offered free of charge. If you want to learn more, contact the National Institute of Corrections at www.nicic.gov. Or the National Alliance on Mental Illness at www.nami.org. You’ll find lots of information and resources to help you get your C.I.T program up and running. 

And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.