Mental Health Awareness & Response: An Intro to CIT-Freeport

This Course meets the following ILETSB mandates:

Civil Rights (.5 Hours)

Constitutional and Proper use of Authority (.5 Hours)

Crisis Intervention (2.5 Hours)

Human Rights (.5 Hours)

Legal Updates (.5 Hours)

Officer Wellness and Mental Health (.5 Hours)

Procedural Justice (1 Hour)

De-Escalation Techniques (1 Hour)

Officer Saftey Techniques (.5 Hours)

This course was formerly titled "Mental Health Awareness"

This class meets the Mental Health Awareness training mandate.

Effective Jan 1, 2018, HB 375 mandates Mental Health Awareness training for law enforcement on an every three-year cycle.

COURSE CONTENT: Law enforcement officers have an important role to play in their interactions with community members. This means responding to incidents with individuals who have mental health issues, including diagnosed mental illness. This 8-hour course is meant to provide law enforcement officers with an awareness of mental health issues including a history of the mental health system, types of mental illness, signs and symptoms, common treatments and medications, and the potential interactions law enforcement may have on a regular basis with these individuals, their families, and service providers.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

1.  Recognize the history of the mental health system and its impact on law enforcement and the criminal justice system

2.  Define mental illness

         a.    Differentiate myths and facts associated with mental illness, including common misperceptions

         b.    Examine the stigma associated with mental illness

3.  Identify common forms of mental illness likely to be encountered including symptoms and behaviors of each

         a.    Recognize the implications of co-occurring disorders (i.e. substance abuse & mental illness) on police encounters

         b.    Examine the components of a crisis

         c.    Discuss the prevalence of suicide, risk assessment, and response

4.  Differentiate treatment modalities for mental illness

         a.    Recognize treatment options that assist individuals to live independently

         b.    Demonstrate understanding of different types of medications

5.  Increase awareness of appropriate law enforcement interaction with individuals who have mental illness

         a.    Critical Decision-Making Model Introduction

         b.    Tactical Communications Overview

         c.    Operational Safety Tactics Overview

REGISTRATION:

All registrations are received on the MTU#1 website. If you are registering for a distant learning class, you must access the registration via the training calendar.

The calendar view will allow you to first select which classroom the officer(s) are attending. 

THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC MEETING

Instructor: Mark Benson, LCPC

Mr. Benson is currently the course coordinator for the Critical Incident Training (CIT) throughout the State of Illinois. Mr. Benson is also the co-owner and clinician with Real Change Clinical Services in Bloomington, Il. and is a Clinical Supervisor for Specialty Courts with McClean County Court Services.

He has been a Certified Instructor with the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board since 2002.

Mr. Benson has conducted training in the following areas:

·         Mental Health in the Correctional System,

·         Mental Health Issues & Suicide Assessment for First Responders

·         Psychotropic Medications/Illness that mimics Mental Illness

·         Legal Issues for the CIT training.