DBHDS News Releases

This conference will bring together law enforcement, mental health professionals, and families and persons impacted by mental illness to determine better ways of serving those with serious mental illness who come in contact with the criminal justice system, resulting in safer communities and better outcomes for our citizens and our law enforcement officers. The conference will offer ways to improve existing programs and instruct localities in Virginia how to develop their own programs. Since last year’s conference:

• Six sites (Piedmont, Rockbridge, Planning District 1, Cumberland Mountain, Colonial and Western Tidewater Community Services Boards) received one-time start up funding from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to firmly establish CIT in their communities.

• The Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) allocated new Byrne Grant funding to programs in Lynchburg and Henrico.

• The Commonwealth added its 30^th recognized CIT initiative.

• The 2012 Virginia General Assembly allocated $600,000 to support the development of three new law enforcement reception and assessment sites. 

The event is co-hosted by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Criminal Justice Services. It is partially funded through the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Transformation Transfer Initiative. Partners include the Virginia CIT Coalition, VOCAL Virginia and NAMI-VA.  More conference information, including an agenda, can be found at www.dcjs.virginia.gov/trainingevents/cple/citconference/.  

About CIT: For individuals with mental illness, involvement in the criminal justice system can be the beginning of a dangerous cycle of homelessness, incarceration and emergency hospitalizations. Also, at the pre-arrest level, there is an increased probability of violence or injury to the individual or the officer. Through crisis intervention team (CIT) programs, police officers are specially trained in the skills and tools necessary to most effectively and safely address the behaviors of people with mental illness, prevent escalation of symptomatic behavior and determine when that behavior is better addressed in a clinical or jail setting. CIT officers recognize and respond with an increased level of awareness to the struggles of people with mental illness and can draw upon a wide range of services and supports and quickly access the most appropriate help available.  This training leads to safer crisis responses and resolutions for individuals with mental illness, the officers and anyone else involved.  

CIT efforts began in Virginia in 2001 in the New River Valley. Today, over 3,000 officers, deputies, first responder and CIT core faculty have been trained through the program, and there are 30 recognized CIT programs across the state and dozens of communities interested in developing their own programs.  

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Available to citizens statewide, Virginia’s public mental health, intellectual disability and substance abuse services system is comprised of 40 community services boards (CSBs) and 16 state facilities. DBHDS seeks to promote dignity, choice, recovery, and the highest possible level of participation in work, relationships, and all aspects of community life for individuals with a mental illness, intellectual disability or a substance-use disorder.  

1220 Bank Street • P.O. Box 1797 • Richmond, Virginia 23218-1797
Phone: (804) 786-3921 • Fax: (804) 371-6638 • Web site: www.dbhds.virginia.gov