BLUE ASH, Ohio — As young people continue to see a decline in overall mental health in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, some Tri-State first responders are working to bridge the gap through crisis intervention training.
Crisis intervention team (CIT) programs are used by law enforcement, in collaboration with various mental health and medical professionals, to improve the chances of safe and effective outcomes for those they interact with.
More than a dozen law enforcement officers from various Tri-State communities gathered on Monday to take part in the training at Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio.
"It's really working with our law enforcement partners around youth mental," said Liz Atwell, executive director of the regional MHA chapter. "And kind of how to best interact and form relationships with young people and address some of the really difficult things that young people and our law enforcement partners are going through."
Learn more about the training here:
In Ohio, 20% of middle school students and 33% of high school students reported their mental health was not good most or all of the time, per a 2024 Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) data brief.
The same brief found a disparity among certain youth based on factors like having a low family income, an LGBTQ+ identity or a disability.
"It's kind of an opportunity for (officers) to see the resources and realize that, 'Hey, there's a correlation between mental health and kids getting into trouble,'" said Melissa Abell, a Colerain Township school resource officer. "We do see a lot of kids that have a lot of trauma, whether it's home life or just things that they've experienced."
The training, which consisted of presentations on topics like human trafficking, youth trauma and resilience and LGBTQ+ identity, emphasized cultivating connections with young people to better understand their needs to improve outcomes.
"If we can get on the front line, and just kind of nip things in the butt, I really feel like we're in a great place to help keep these kids from being repeat offenders or even getting involved with the criminal justice system in the first place," Abell said.
According to the National Institute on Mental Illness (NAMI), CIT not only can improve outcomes for those struggling with mental health conditions but also provides other benefits to law enforcement:
- Affords law enforcement officers additional tools to do their job safely and effectively.
- Reduces the amount of time police officers spend responding to mental health calls, in some instances, allowing for a greater focus on crime by departments.
- Produces cost savings by looking first to community-based treatments rather than incarceration.
