CIT for Youth Manual

Approximately 13 percent of youth live with a serious mental illness. Only about 20 percent of these youth get the treatment they need. Instead, all too often they end up in the juvenile justice system, where 70 percent of youth are living with one or more psychiatric disorders. To address this crisis and better meet the needs of youth living with mental illness, communities around the country have expanded their Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) to address the specific needs of youth. Learn more.

CIT for Youth aims to improve interactions between youth and law enforcement officers by training law enforcement officers and encouraging a community partnership that effectively connects youth with mental health needs to effective services and supports in their community. NAMI’s new CIT for Youth manual provides step-by-step guidance for implementing this program in your community.

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Bring CIT for Youth to your community by learning more about these five steps to implementation:

1. Building Community Partnerships (PDF)

2. Conducting Asset Mapping (PDF)

3. Planning and Coordinating (PDF)

4. Planning a CIT for Youth Training (PDF)

5. Measuring Effectiveness and
Ensuring Sustainability (PDF)

CIT for Youth Videos

Local Leaders Speak

"The CIT for Youth manual is informative, contains the essential details, and will be useful for any community that chooses to take on a CIT for Youth program. Given the contact that youth with mental illness has with law enforcement, this is an important publication."

-- Mike Fitzpatrick
Executive Director
NAMI