Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL HEALTH

ACA and IACP A partnership to improve Crisis Response Intervention Training in corrections By Dr. Dean Aufderheide and David Randall

prisons and jails for crisis response intervention training. The TA was part of a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) called the Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) Training and Assistance Program. Along with ACA, other partners participating in the grant included Policy Research Associates (PRA), The Arc of the United States, National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability, Na tional Policing Institute (NPI), and CIT International. With a focus on supporting of ficer safety and wellness, expanding officers’ knowledge of mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities, creating connections with people with lived experience, enhancing officers’ awareness of community services, and empha sizing the de-escalation of crisis situations, a CRIT curriculum was developed and posted on BJA’s web site along with training materials and other helpful resources. Working with ACA and IACP, jail and prison agencies from across the country are participant grantee sites with access to the CRIT Training and Assistance Program at no cost. Using highly qualified SMEs in se curity and correctional psychology,

Adobe Stock/Halytskyi Olexandr

A cross the nation, cor rectional officials and front-line staff are facing challenges with a growing popu lation of offenders with serious mental illness, behavioral problems, and developmental disabilities. Correctional officers are usually the first to observe significant changes in an inmate’s routine mental status. Bizarre behavior suggestive of mental illness, deterioration in self-care or an increase in aggressive behavior tends to stand out. When agitated behavior escalates to po tential violence, correctional officers are typically the first responders. Knowledge is power and, when urgency of response is paramount,

de-escalation techniques are power ful tools in redirecting potentially violent behavior. This results in improved staff and inmate safety and well-being. Recognizing the research sup porting the importance of crisis response interventions, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has made funding available to assist law en forcement agencies, jails and prisons in the planning and implementation of effective Crisis Response Inter vention Training (CRIT). In 2023, the American Correc tional Association (ACA) contracted with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to pro vide Technical Assistance (TA) to

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