Law enforcement and mental health clinician partnerships in global mental health: outcomes for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model adaptation in Liberia, West Africa

BACKGROUND: The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is a law enforcement strategy that aims to build alliances between the law enforcement and mental health communities. Despite its success in the United States, CIT has not been used in low- and middle-income countries. This study assesses the immediate and 9-month outcomes of CIT training on trainee knowledge and attitudes. METHODS: Twenty-two CIT trainees (14 law enforcement officers and eight mental health clinicians) were evaluated using pre-developed measures assessing knowledge and attitudes related to mental illness. Evaluations were conducted prior to, immediately after, and 9 months post training. RESULTS: The CIT training produced improvements both immediately and 9 months post training in knowledge and attitudes, suggesting that CIT can benefit law enforcement officers even in extremely low-resource settings with limited specialized mental health service infrastructure. CONCLUSION: These findings support further exploration of the benefits of CIT in highly under-resourced settings.