TRAINING COURSES

This course prepares law enforcement officers and other public safety personnel with the skills to assist individuals in crisis. This course is an intensive 40-hour, five-day curriculum that is comprised of both classroom instruction and practical exercises delivered by mental health professionals, other subject matter experts and CIT law enforcement instructors. POST credit is available. 

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This course provides training and information for those currently acting as the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) coordinator/liaison for their agency as well as those seeking to establish a more formal CIT program. Topics include: defining the CIT model and the role of the CIT Coordinator, writing and establishing CIT policies and goals, CIT program implementation, developing metrics and data collection strategies, crisis system disaster mapping, developing community partnerships and working collaboratively with Mobile Crisis teams, case studies – exploration of partnership models being used by CT Police Departments, considerations for supervisors, program sustainability and growth, resources. Opportunities for information sharing, networking and inter-agency collaboration will be provided.

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This comprehensive 35-hour course led by national experts will provide guidelines, information and recommendations for developing and maintaining a Peer Support Team in a law enforcement agency utilizing national standards. Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to begin or continue managing a peer support team, recognize common signs and symptoms of a colleague in need of support and provide that support, have an understanding of how to respond to critical incidents on a micro and macro level. Those attending will also receive training related to confidentiality, legal considerations, stress management, suicide prevention and early intervention, substance use and mental health issues as well best practices for managing specific incidents that law enforcement officers and peer support officers regularly face. Attendees will be certified in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. (ICISF). Individuals completing the course will receive 30 hours of review training credit in Human Relations (Area 400).

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This course is designed to train police officers and mental health experts who have already been trained in the 40 hour,  CIT model, and who have a role in CIT training in their department. School resource officers as well as faculty and staff from Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) schools are encouraged to attend. This training program receives generous support from the Connecticut Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI). POST credit is available.

This course provides an introduction to mental health and crisis intervention for 911 dispatchers/public safety telecommunications operators. Dispatchers are a crucial first point of contact for an effective CIT response and this training will prepare call takers to communicate key information to those responding to possible crisis scenes as well as considerations and to identify situations where mobile crisis teams and other resources can be integrated. Other training topics include: identification of crisis calls, the dispatch role in triaging crisis calls, verbal de-escalation and communication strategies, legal considerations, the role of critical incident debriefs and strategies for maintaining physical and emotional wellness as a call taker. Practical scenarios are integrated to give participants experience applying the skills and concepts developed through training.