FY24 Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training Program

In Colorado, Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) are independent entities operated by a diverse array of organizations, including State Patrol, Sheriff's departments, police departments, or non-law enforcement providers. The Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) within Colorado's Department of Public Safety (CDPS) proposes to modify and implement a variation on CIT called Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) to facilitate increased collaboration between law enforcement and 911 emergency communication specialists when engaging with individuals with a behavioral health condition or intellectual or developmental disabilities. The applicant agency requests $235,483 to accomplish the following objectives: (1) Adapt CRIT to leverage the collaborative relationships that exist between PSAPs, law enforcement, and community providers by including content related to emergency communication specialists and PSAPs. (2) Deliver train-the-trainer to teams from two rural and one suburban areas of the state. (3) Have each of the local training teams deliver at least one full course in their jurisdiction. (4) Create a sustainability plan that leverages the train-the-trainer model, peer learning sites, and local trainers. (5) Use the modified CRIT curriculum and joint training among all emergency and crisis responding professionals to build a collaborative culture around responding to behavioral health calls for service. A portion of these funds will be subcontracted to local agencies to participate in the train-the-trainer process, engage in training their colleagues, and assist in building a process or tool kit for agencies to deliver the modified CRIT curriculum in a collaborative manner with local 911 emergency communication specialists. DCJ believes the addition of 911 emergency communication specialists to this training with law enforcement will improve collaboration during crisis calls and assist everyone in achieving the best possible outcome for the citizens while also preserving law enforcement and 911 resources. This applicant has no proposed conference activities.