Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT)
Co-Responder program to assist individuals with serious mental health crises
The lack of mental health crisis services across the U.S. has resulted
in law enforcement officers serving as first responders to most mental
health-related crises. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is an
innovative, community-based approach to improve the outcomes of these
encounters.
As a subset of this program, the Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT)
is a collaborative program between a crisis intervention trained law
enforcement officer and master’s level clinician from The Harris Center
for Mental Health and IDD providing support to individuals experiencing
a serious mental health crisis. In these teams, clinicians and law
enforcement respond together to the most serious CIT-related calls,
including serving as a resource for SWAT calls in the region. This
program provides a more holistic approach to those experiencing a
mental health crisis within the community.