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With grant in place, mental health group looks to train hundreds in crisis intervention

Times-Tribune - 2/1/2017

Feb. 01--JESSUP -- A Scranton-based mental health group will use a $830,000 grant to fund mental health training for area law enforcement agencies and reimburse towns worried about cost, the nonprofit's chief said Tuesday.

The effort builds on the success of the local crisis intervention team, Alex J. Hazzouri, the Advocacy Alliance chief executive officer, said.

"We hope over the next six years to train over 600 law enforcement and related personnel," Mr. Hazzouri said.

With money on the table from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, they hope the offer will be tough to turn down. Mr. Hazzouri, local crisis intervention team coordinators and national mental health advocates made the case for such specialized training Tuesday before a crowd of a few dozen law enforcement officials at the Lackawanna County Center for Public Safety.

"Everybody knows law enforcement has become a de facto part of the mental health system," said Jenna Mehnert, executive director of NAMI Maine.

The other supporting foundations are the Moses Taylor Foundation, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation, the Scranton Area Community Foundation and the AllOne Foundation, said Marie Onukiavage, the NAMI Scranton executive director.

Since its inception in 2010, the Scranton Area Crisis Intervention Team has trained 139 people in fields ranging from law enforcement to education with skills to de-escalate crises and bring tense situations to a relatively amicable conclusion. They hope that as many as 600 additional people receive training, either the 40-hour CIT training or the eight-hour mental health first aid training, from Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties.

A task force appointed by former Mayor Chris Doherty recommended the city create the team following the 2009 death of Brenda Williams, a woman who suffered from schizophrenia and who city police fatally shot in her home when she approached them with a knife.

The training had a significant effect on the police use of force, the advocates said. The number of mental health calls in the city remained relatively stable in the years since then, but the use of force rate declined by 66 percent.

While Mr. Hazzouri said he believes numerous police departments are interested in such training, cost is an obstacle. CIT training encompasses 40 hours of training over a full work week and many small departments cannot afford to send one of their employees away.

Jessup Police Chief Joseph Walsh, who attended Tuesday's meeting, is happy with the promise of reimbursement but the issue of logistics still looms. Like many local municipal police departments, Jessup provides full-time coverage with several part-time officers. Working with an officer's other employers will be a challenge to overcome.

"The funding is a big part of it but also the logistics," Chief Walsh said.

Procedures for dispersing the funding still are being worked out, but Mr. Hazzouri stressed it will be available.

Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano said he always intended to have more officers trained in crisis intervention. The funding helps.

"We can't afford not to send them to this type of training," Chief Graziano said.

Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com,

@jkohutTT on Twitter

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