Florida Partners in Crisis

Program Model

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) began in Memphis, TN in the late 1980s and has been widely adopted around the country. CIT is an effective law enforcement response program designed for first responders who handle crisis calls involving people with mental illnesses, including those with co-occurring substance use disorders.

CIT emphasizes a partnership between law enforcement, the mental health and substance abuse treatment system, mental health advocacy groups, and consumers of mental health services and their families.

As CIT has developed in different communities, local adaptations have been made to various elements of the program. Each community has its own unique issues that might affect CIT implementation. Rural communities are especially challenged to adapt CIT successfully as rural law enforcement agencies are often small and cover extensive geographical regions. However, it is believed that CIT can be successfully implemented in both urban and rural communities.

To promote implementation of CIT in Florida, a group of stakeholders who were involved in developing CIT in their own communities have been working since March 2004 to develop consensus around various CIT components. The group, known as the Florida CIT Coalition, believes certain critical elements are necessary for the effectiveness of CIT.  Accordingly, individuals from CIT programs in Florida 13 counties have developed this document summarizing those core elements, which are based on the Memphis Model. Development of these core elements is a work in progress. Eventually, the Florida CIT Coalition hopes to turn these core elements into a fidelity self-assessment tool and lay the groundwork for eventually seeing CIT programs with these elements in place in all Florida communities.

Originating members of the Florida CIT Coalition included representatives from mental health providers, law enforcement agencies and NAMI, along with advocates from: Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach,  Pasco, Pinellas, Seminole, Sarasota and Volusia counties. Others involved included representatives of the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida, Florida International University, the Department of Children and Families, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Council for Community Mental Health and the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association.

Goals for Florida CIT:

CIT is a community partnership between law enforcement agencies, the local mental health and substance abuse treatment systems, mental health advocacy groups, and consumers of mental health services and their families. CIT is more than just training. It establishes teams of trained officers within each law enforcement agency to respond effectively to people with mental illnesses, including those with co-occurring substance use disorders who are in crisis.

Communities that establish CIT programs do so with the following goals in mind:

• Better preparation of law enforcement officers to handle crises involving people with mental illnesses, including those with co-occurring substance use disorders
• Increased law enforcement officer safety, consumer safety and overall community safety
• Collaboratively, to make the mental health system more understandable, responsive and accessible to law enforcement officers to the greatest extent possible with community resources
• To supply law enforcement officers with the resources to appropriately refer people in need of care to the mental health/substance abuse treatment system.
• Improved access to mental health/substance abuse treatment in general and crisis care in specific for people who are encountered by law enforcement
• Diversion of people with a mental illness who are in crisis from the criminal justice system whenever possible, consistent with Florida’s Baker Act or Marchman Act.

Purpose of the Florida CIT Training program:

The Florida CIT Coalition has adopted a model program to guide those communities conducting a CIT program or those who wish to implement CIT. It is understood that developing and implementing CIT based on the identified core elements is a process over time, often beginning with the 40-hour training. Also, in order to fully implement the Florida CIT model, both community involvement and a commitment by key stakeholders with a dedication of necessary resources is a must. The training model outlines the core elements considered necessary to have an effective CIT program that is recognized as a best practice.

You may download a pdf version of the Florida Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Program guide here.