Mental Health Response Program

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

The Hennepin county Sheriff’s Office Adult Detention Division staff continually strives to deliver better services to its residents. Meeting the needs of a growing inmate population with mental health disorders has been a particular challenge. A program to introduce mental health awareness for staff, improve behavior management strategies, and provide mental health response and de-escalation training to staff who are confronted with volatile situations began in June of 2006. The most significant part of the program was the introduction of crisis intervention team training into the detention environment In 2007, the first of its kind in Minnesota. More than 60 sheriff’s office staff have been trained and qualified as CIT officers. Since the inception of crisis intervention training, physical confrontation and use of force incidents have decreased. Crisis intervention team training has provided a safer and more appropriate response to a select population that deserves special care, treatment, and services. The mental health response program has created an environment in which staff identifies individuals with mental illness, directs necessary services to those hat need them, and provides an environment where mentally ill individuals are treated with dignity and respect.