The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program, based on the Memphis Model, is an innovative program designed to effectively assist individuals in their communities who are in crisis due to behavioral health or developmental disorders. CIT is often mistakenly viewed as law enforcement training; in reality, it is considerably more. It is a program with a broad reach that relies on strong community partnerships and a vibrant crisis system that understands and responds to the role and needs of law enforcement.

The CIT program encourages officers to access crisis facilities to redirect individuals in crisis away from the criminal justice system, when appropriate. This fosters engagement in the behavioral health system for connectivity to long-term treatment and services, which leads to sustainable change in the community. The goals that are realized through implementation of CIT programs include increased officer and consumer safety and diversion of individuals in crises away from the criminal justice system and into the behavioral health system with the goal of long-term treatment and recovery. The CIT model reduces both the stigma and the need for further involvement within the criminal justice system for those in crisis.