The Paint Valley Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board has announced that 13 law enforcement officers and first responders, who serve in the Paint Valley ADAMH Board region, completed Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training on Friday, May 5. The weeklong, 40-hour class is designed to train law enforcement officers and first responders in skills that assist them in interacting with individuals with mental illness and/or a developmental disability.

Among those 13 was officer Brett McMillan with the Hillsboro Police Department.

Melanie Swisher, executive director of the Paint Valley ADAMH Board, said she, the board and CIT Planning Committee are excited about being able to offer the training to increase safety for the community, officers and first responders.

“Our first responders are daily met with crises. This training is so important to equip them with the skills to de-escalate situations safely and provide them with the knowledge of local resources that can assist them,” Swisher said.

A total of 172 officers and first responders across the Paint Valley ADAMH region have completed CIT training since the first class in 2013. Fayette County has 5 CIT officers, Highland County has 39 CIT officers, Pickaway County has 39 CIT officers, Pike County has 12 CIT officers, and Ross County has 76 CIT officers.

The CIT Planning Committee is comprised of mental health providers from Scioto Paint Valley Mental Health Center (SPVMHC), law enforcement officers, representatives from the Veterans Administration, and ADAMH staff who worked together to develop the local CIT training. The training is funded by the Paint Valley ADAMH Board, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Ohio provides additional funding for presenters to assure the best training in the state is available for our law enforcement officers.

Submitted by Lorrie Cockrell, Paint Valley ADAMH.