May 9, 2017 General Meeting – All About CIT and 5150

Kathryn Parlet and Police Officer Juan de Dios Tovar are our May general meeting speakers. Ms. Parlet will provide up-to-date information about 5150 and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program and will answer questions. San Jose Police Officer Juan de Dios Tovar is very well known in the community who helps with mental health concerns. He is also a family member.

Kathryn Parlet is a Mental Health Program Specialist with Santa Clara County as well as a California State Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. She is among only 80 CIT International Certified Coordinators worldwide.

(July-August 2017 Newsletter Write-Up)  All About CIT and 5150 – Kathryn Parlett began her work in Mental Health in 1995 when she assisted a college roommate suffering from a mental illness. Kathryn began her career in accounting but changed to psychology after hearing the insightful words of Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference.” She became a California State Licensed Professional Counselor, a 5150 Coordinator and is currently among 80 CIT Coordinators worldwide.

The idea behind CIT originated in 1988 when Sam Cochran, a police officer in Memphis, Tennessee, became convinced that crisis intervention training to assist officers dealing with individuals with mental illness would help people work safely and provide options beyond incarceration. Since that time over 1,000 officers worldwide have been trained. A section of the California Welfare Code (specifically the Lanterman-Petris Short Act), 5150 permits a qualified officer or clinician to involuntarily confine a person suspected of a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves or others. This allows the person to be confined for up to 2 hours. Ms. Parlett believes it is very useful to distract a person from fears and anger when in such a state, and can at times prevent them from requiring restraint and movement into a closed facility.

Kathryn was joined by Brent Herbert a CIT officer in Los Gatos, who talked about the successes their organization experienced with CIT. He explained that CIT allows the officer to work in an environment with lower stress without a typical cop present. Their experience has shown that frequently in the highest level of mental health care a paternal relationship can develop between some one in crisis and a CIT officer; sometimes the interaction will pull the person in distress out of the crisis.

For more information about CIT, you can contact the Crisis Management Unit of the San Jose Police Department for their pamphlet entitled “Law Enforcement and Mental Illness.”

All About CIT and 5150 – Kathryn Parlett began her work in Mental Health in 1995 when she assisted a college roommate suffering from a mental illness. Kathryn began her career in accounting but changed to psychology after hearing the insightful words of Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference.” She became a California State Licensed Professional Counselor, a 5150 Coordinator and is currently among 80 CIT Coordinators worldwide.

The idea behind CIT originated in 1988 when Sam Cochran, a police officer in Memphis, Tennessee, became convinced that crisis intervention training to assist officers dealing with individuals with mental illness would help people work safely and provide options beyond incarceration. Since that time over 1,000 officers worldwide have been trained. A section of the California Welfare Code (specifically the Lanterman-Petris Short Act), 5150 permits a qualified officer or clinician to involuntarily confine a person suspected of a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves or others. This allows the person to be confined for up to 2 hours. Ms. Parlett believes it is very useful to distract a person from fears and anger when in such a state, and can at times prevent them from requiring restraint and movement into a closed facility.

Kathryn was joined by Brent Herbert a CIT officer in Los Gatos, who talked about the successes their organization experienced with CIT. He explained that CIT allows the officer to work in an environment with lower stress without a typical cop present. Their experience has shown that frequently in the highest level of mental health care a paternal relationship can develop between some one in crisis and a CIT officer; sometimes the interaction will pull the person in distress out of the crisis.

For more information about CIT, you can contact the Crisis Management Unit of the San Jose Police Department for their pamphlet entitled “Law Enforcement and Mental Illness.”