(COLUMBUS) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that his office is awarding $60,000 in grant funds to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Ohio (NAMI Ohio).
The grant will fund Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, a 40-hour course that educates law enforcement officers about handling incidents involving people with mental illness. CIT is a community-based collaboration between law enforcement, mental health consumers, NAMI and mental health providers. Law enforcement officers receive education about mental health disorders, the local mental health system and practical techniques for de-escalating crises.
"This training is critical for law enforcement," said DeWine. "The skills that are taught can be used to help de-escalate situations involving those with mental health issues, as well as other potentially dangerous situations."
The funding for the grant comes as part of a 2011 bankruptcy discharge with Richland Hospital in Mansfield. Richland Hospital was a psychiatric hospital established in 1947 as a non-profit corporation for charitable hospital purposes. The hospital ceased operations in 2000. The discharge called for the money from the sale of the hospital to be used by the Attorney General's Office for charitable purposes.
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