City of fitchburg will be using the FY24 pact funding by continuing to provide training and education for law enforcement on mental illness and promote diversion tactics for individuals with mental…

The City of Fitchburg was awarded a $371,223 Project Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants program (CFDA 16.710). The grant funding will be used by the Fitchburg Police Department (FPD) and Open Sky Community Services to provide mental health crisis intervention training for law enforcement, promote diversion tactics to direct individuals with mental illness into treatment rather than the criminal justice system, and establish a co-response clinician internship program. Key activities include conducting follow-up home or street visits with individuals who have had recent police interactions, introducing a co-response clinician program, and implementing a combination of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), and co-response strategies tailored to the local community's needs. The grant award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026.

City of fitchburg will be using the FY24 pact funding by continuing to provide training and education for law enforcement on mental illness and promote diversion tactics for individuals with mental illness from the criminal justice system into treatment when IT is safe to do so.with the support of this grant, the fitchburg police department (FPD) and open sky community services will conduct pre-arranged, post encounter follow up home or street visits with individuals who have had recent police interactions during peak times for relevant calls for service. Additionally, this department, along with open sky community services, will introduce a CO-response clinician paid internship program in an effort to give graduate students exposure to community-police CO-response programs, and recruit clinicians into programs in worcester county. The fitchburg pact expansion program is an innovative combination of proven and effective strategies. IT combines elements of CIT, mhfa, and CO-response to create a specific program tailored to responding to the needs of the community, law enforcement, and local mental health providers.most importantly, this program is designed to divert individuals who suffer from substance abuse, mental illness, and CO-occurring disorders from the criminal justice system when IT is safe and applicable.