Cascade County Offers Key Training for Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and More

There's an old saying that "Knowledge is Power" and I honestly couldn't agree more. It's always better to overprepare than to be unprepared.

With an important training course coming up in Great Falls, you have a chance to be prepared.

Crisis Intervention Team Training - Cascade County

From September 21st to the 25th, you'll have a chance to learn how to be of assistance to first responders during a crisis.

According to the information from Cascade County Sheriff/Coroner's Office, this includes law enforcement officers, detention staff, dispatchers, EMS, ER staff, behavioral health advocates, "and anyone involved in the community crisis system in engaging, assessing, and assisting individuals in crisis with mental and/or co-occurring substance disorders."

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The course is described as being a "40-hour evidence-based training that exposes the participants to materials and experiences from trained mental health and medical professionals to better prepare them effectively and safely work with this unique population."

What Will Be Taught in the Training?

Instructors will go over a variety of topics that include suicide assessment and intervention, substance abuse and dual diagnosis, introduction to mental illness, psychotropic medications, and more.

The entire course is about 40 hours over the course of the five days and once you complete it, you'll be certified by CIT Montana while law enforcement will be certified by Montana P.O.S.T. as a CIT Officer.

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I think this is a great opportunity to not only learn more about crisis training, but also how to support our first responders.

If you're interested, the class is $125 per student and you can reach out to Kami Stone, Crisis Diversion Coordinator at Cascade County Sheriff's Office at kstone@cascadecountymt.gov or at 406-454-6818.