Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

CIT For Youth

Approximately 13% of youth live with a serious mental illness. Only about 20% of these youth get the treatment they need. All too often they end up in the juvenile justice system, where 70% of youth are living with one or more mental health conditions.

To address the school to prison pipeline, communities around the country have expanded their Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs to meet the specific needs of youth.

History & Reviews on Past Scientific Evidence About CIT

The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model of policing was developed in 1988 in Memphis following the police killing of 27-year-old Joseph Dewayne Robinson. Robinson was in the midst of a mental health crisis, threatening suicide and cutting himself with a knife. Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife; he became agitated and brandished the knife, moving toward the officers. He was shot eight times. A public outcry following the killing led police to develop the CIT model to intervene more effectively and humanely in situations involving troubled individuals.