Federal grant aims to help Oklahoma law enforcement handle situations involving mental health - KOCO Oklahoma City

Crisis Intervention Training could de-escalate mental health crisis situations and get people the help they

OKLAHOMA CITY —

Federal grant money is coming to Oklahoma to help law enforcement handle situations involving mental health.

Crisis Intervention Training could de-escalate mental health crisis situations and get people the help they

"Obviously, law enforcement has been involved in that for a number of years," said Jeff Dismukes, communications director of Oklahoma City's Mental Health Department. "It's important to train them well to understand mental health crisis so that they can better respond."

There are more than 1,900 CIT-certified officers across Oklahoma.

"We've been working to train even more and expand CIT. This grant's going to help us do that," Dismukes said.

The federal grant is $121,000 a year for up to five years and is through the state's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

"We're working with many departments who are expanding out the number of officers that they have trained. We're really excited about that," Dismukes said. "But also there are additional trainings beyond CIT and additional resources we're offering to law enforcement agencies statewide."

The funding also includes community outreach.

"This is an opportunity for all officers to learn community problem solving, how to partner and find solutions to any variety of issues," Dismukes said, "and I think that's an important thing as we move forward with law enforcement."

Dismukes told KOCO 5 the funding could also help future generations.

"Get people the help that they need as opposed to a jail cell if that's appropriate, if we can get people treatment and stop the cycle of illness that often allows people to become continually engaged in the criminal justice system," Dismukes said.

source: https://www.koco.com/article/federal-grant-aims-to-help-oklahoma-law-enforcement/37876056

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