The Heartland Crisis Intervention Team, a nearly 20-year-old first responder’s mental health collaborative program, recently received a gold-level certification from CIT International, recognizing the work that the program has done in the region since its inception in 2006.
The Munroe-Meyer Institute partners in the de-escalation training program for first responders with the Omaha Police Department and Lutheran Family Services, providing a component on intellectual and developmental disabilities to help first responders recognize and more easily interact with people with IDD in emergency situations.
“The IDD component of training for first responders is really a unique and valuable aspect of this training and well received by the participants being trained,” said Mark Shriver, PhD, director of the University Center of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities at MMI.
Rachel Ray, MMI’s CIT program director, said the inclusion of an IDD component to the crisis intervention training caught the eye of the certifying body.
“This gold-level certification recognizes the work that we’re doing, especially in relation to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” she said. “The international committee recognized us for including people with disabilities in our training, and that aspect of the training always receives high scores and good comments from the first-responder participants as well.”
MMI has been involved in the program, which is run under LFS, since 2015.
“Lutheran Family Services is the central agency that coordinates CIT training in the Omaha area, but it’s also statewide. The National Alliance on Mental Illness-Nebraska is part of this collaboration as well, and the Omaha Police Department have been invaluable partners.”
Ray said that including IDD training in the CIT program is crucial for both the first responders and the individuals they may encounter.
“Many individuals, especially on the autism spectrum, if they have a crisis in the community and law enforcement officers are not trained on how to respond, a situation can escalate. A lot of times with folks with IDD, especially if there is a dual diagnosis with a behavioral health aspect, the first thought of an officer may be that narcotics are involved. And for some people, sirens, yelling, all that can escalate behaviors. So, we’re working with OPD and other first responders to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”
The program also has done trainings in Bellevue, Kearney and Lincoln, as well as at the Nebraska Humane Society, the VA, and even the medical center.
“UNMC and University of Nebraska at Omaha Chief of Police Charlotte Evans has been a big supporter of what we do,” Ray said.
Ray said that over the course of her eight years with the program, she’s seen a change in how officers handle situations involving people with IDD.
During one recent incident involving a family member, Ray said, the officer “handled it beautifully,” recognizing that the person was on the autism spectrum and successfully de-escalating the situation.
“If this would have been several years ago, it could have turned out very differently,” Ray said.