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On Friday, November 18, members of the Philadelphia Police Department Behavioral Health Unit CIRT (Crisis Intervention Response Teams) participated in the GOAL LGBTQ+ Cultural Humility Training at the Philadelphia Police Academy.
CIRT teams in Philadelphia are made up of two police officers and a mental health clinician. This is the first time that the Philadelphia Police Department has had a dedicated unit specifically for behavioral health and crisis intervention. The purpose of these teams is to ensure the safety of those who are in crisis as well as police officers and the public. The program began in the spring of 2021 and has continued to expand since that time, with a dedicated unit being established in 2022.
This collaboration and training between GOAL and the CIRT unit are important because of the stressors (bullying, isolation, discrimination, etc.) that the LGBTQ+ community face on a daily basis. The convergence of these stressors along with health and other problems put members of the community at greater risk for a crisis.
mental health condition. Transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals (people whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex) individuals to experience a mental health condition. Training like this helps bring awareness and education to first responders so that they are able to better understand and connect with individuals. Those connections are often key to ensuring individuals trust first responders and increase the likelihood of them agreeing to seek other support and resources.