Law enforcement officers and their behavioral health partners are helping residents in crisis on a regular basis. In an ongoing effort to support these professionals with specialized training, the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) is partnering with other public safety organizations to begin offering the Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist (CCIS) course statewide in 2020.
The three-day CCIS course is intended as an advanced training opportunity for individuals that have completed the 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) course already offered across the state. The CCIS course focuses on high-level verbal skills for de-escalation when working with a person in crisis.
The course was developed by National Anger Management Association (NAMA) stakeholders; Dr. Richard Pfeiffer, Laura Moss and Andy Prisco. Successful completion of the CCIS course results in formal certification from NAMA in crisis intervention skills. This is the only credential available from a professional mental health association in de-escalation and crisis intervention.
Over the past year, six individuals have undergone intensive, developmental coaching from Growth Central Training (a training purveyor of NAMA credentials) to become certified to teach the CCIS course in Oregon. The following facilitators received their instructor credentials from NAMA at the completion of their training on January 29, 2020 at DPSST.
- Sgt. Liz Lawrence – City of Bend Police Department
- Linda Maddy, LCSW – Department of Public Safety Standards and Training
- Ridg Medford – Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc.
- Sgt. Jason Ritter – Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office
- Sgt. Diane Stockbridge – Port of Portland Police Department
- Melissa Thompson, MA – Deschutes County Health Services
DPSST's Director Eriks Gabliks said "we are very proud to be the first state to host this valuable train the trainer program and greatly appreciate each of the individuals who completed this important training program and the organization's around the state they represent. We look forward to the next step of this program which is having this talented team of instructors, which blends an instructional team of a responder and clinician, offer the CCIS training around the state to our first responders who help Oregonians in crisis on a daily basis."
## Background information on Crisis Intervention Training in Oregon ##
With staffing and funds provided by the Oregon Legislative Assembly and Oregon Health Authority in 2016, the Department of Public Safety and Standards Training (DPSST) in collaboration with Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc. (GOBHI) created Oregon's CIT Center of Excellence (CITCOE). CITCOE serves as a training resource clearinghouse which works with law enforcement and behavioral health agencies across the state to develop, implement and support CIT’s. Currently there are 26 CIT’s in Oregon and several more are being developed. Since the creation of CITCOE, thousands of first-responders around Oregon have received valuable basic and advanced training on how to assist Oregonians in crisis. For more information on CITCOE please go to http://www.ocbhji.org/citcoe/
## Background Information on the DPSST ##
The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) operates the Oregon Public Safety Academy which spans more than 235 acres in Salem. The Academy is nationally recognized for its innovative training programs and active stakeholder involvement. Eriks Gabliks serves as the Director, and Citizen-Member Patricia Patrick-Joling serves as the Chair of the Board. The Department implements minimum standards established by the Board for the training and certification of more than 41,000 city, tribal, county and state law enforcement officers, corrections officers, parole and probation officers, OLCC regulatory specialists, fire service personnel, telecommunicators, emergency medical dispatchers and private security providers.
DPSST provides training to more than 25,000 students each year throughout Oregon and at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem: certifies qualified officers at various levels from basic through executive; certifies qualified instructors; and reviews and accredits training programs throughout the state based on standards established by the Board.