8:00am - 9:00am: Sign-in and breakfast
9:00am - 9:15am: Introductions
9:15am - 10:00am: National Overview of CIT
BREAK
10:15am - 11:15am: South County Mobile Integrated Health, NAMI and Advocacy
BREAK
11:30:am - 12:30pm: Break-Out Sessions: Next Steps for your CIT Program
LUNCH
1:30pm - 2:00pm: Debrief
2:00pm - 3:00pm: Awards
Please see below to learn more about our involved presenters!
Chris Roup is the Director of Programs for Crisis Response Programs and Training, a corporation that provides technical assistance for crisis response systems and training at all crisis response intercept points. Recently, she was Director of Programs for CIT International. She has been involved with CIT, crisis intervention teams, programs for the past 10 years. She is currently a master instructor for Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT): Train-the-Trainer, and Crisis Call Training for Emergency Communication Centers: Train-the-Trainer; both programs of CRPT.
As a Certified CIT Coordinator, Chris has participated in multiple Sequential Intercept Model mapping processes contributing as a key stakeholder for CIT Steering Committees. She has co-coordinated 30+ CIT training classes for law enforcement and other first responder agencies delivering of the Memphis Model CIT training for over 630 officers for 17 agencies throughout California. She was Executive Director of the NAMI Fresno, National Alliance on Mental Illness, for 8 years. Chris provides mental health education to various partners of criminal justice system, local school districts to teachers, administrators and students, and faith communities. Christina has 35+ years of community benefit organization leadership, serving as a board member and executive staff leadership.
Prior to executive leadership with NAMI Fresno, Chris spent over 20 years in the banking industry as a Vice President specializing in relationships with community benefit organizations. She is currently serving as President of California CIT Association and just recently completed serving as an executive board member of NAMI California. Prior to leaving California in 2023, Christina was an appointed as a commissioner for the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Commission. She is a certified instructor for Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid. In addition, she is a leader for several NAMI signature programs: Family to Family, Family Support Groups, Peer to Peer, Connection Recovery Support Group, and a lead presenter for all Ending the Silence modules.
Ron Bruno is a founding board member and serves as the chief executive officer of Crisis Response Programs and Training, a corporation that provides training at all crisis intercept points and technical assistance to communities reforming crisis response. Ron is a three-time, currently appointed member to the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee, a federal committee that reports to the United States Congress making recommendations for better coordinated federal efforts of mental healthcare services.
Ron brings to this position, and appointment, a twenty-five-year law enforcement career where he specialized in crisis response and working with persons with mental illness who had involvement in the criminal justice system.
Ron is a founding board member of two nonprofit organizations dedicated to CIT program development, CIT International and CIT Utah. Ron served both corporations as their first executive director. Ron is also the director of CTS Services, LLC, an organization that provides litigative consultation regarding crisis response.
Join us in congratulating the winners of the 2024 CIT Awards!
Officer Behan has been a police officer with Middletown for 10 years. He has been a member of the Middletown Police Department CIT Team as well as Special Response Team. He is the proud father of a one year son. During his free time Officer Behan enjoys gardening, lifting weights, and hiking.
Michael started with the Richmond Police Department in 2018 and was part of the Rhode Island's first CIT academy. In addition to his CIT certification, Michael is also a certified "Train-the-Trainer". He is currently serving as a School Resource Officer. In his free time, Michael enjoys participating in historical reenactments and spending time with his two cats, Jack and Jameson.
Anthony Grande has been a police officer in North Providence since 2016. Prior to being an officer, he received a bachelors degree from Rhode Island College in psychology and later a Master's Degree from Salve Regina University in Administration of Justice. He began working at Butler Hospital as a mental health worker on the alcohol and drug inpatient unit and later transferred to the adult intensive treatment unit. Officer Grande decided at age 27 that he wanted to become a police officer. After becoming an officer, he began participating in trainings within the department to bridge the gap between his mental health background and his current police officer career. He attended a CRT instructor course, attended the CIT training, received his certificate from the FBI for hostage/crisis negotiations, is on the peer support team within department, a field training officer, and has assisted in teaching new recruits in the mental health portion at the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy. Due to the increase of individuals in mental health crisis, he hopes to continue his career teaching new officers the role in the mental health field and ways to improve relations between officers and individuals with mental health disorders.
Matthew Lonardo is a 26 year old employed by the Johnston Police Department who graduated in 2021 from Assumption University where he played collegiate baseball and received a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice. He then graduated from the Rhode Island Sheriffs Academy where he was employed for approximately eight months. In the late months of 2022, he signed a contingent offer of employment from the Johnston Police Department. In January of 2023, he attended the 140th Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy. In May of 2023, he graduated from the Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy and was sworn in by Johnston's Mayor, Mayor Joseph Polisena Jr, and Johnston Police Chief, Chief Mark Vieira. He is currently a patrolman assigned to the Uniform Patrol Division. During his time thus far, he has been fortunate enough to attend a variety schools and trainings pertaining to the job. In January of 2024, he attended and graduated from the week-long Crisis Intervention Team Academy. It was during this training that he realized anyone can make a difference. Being a police officer, he has been exposed to many individuals who are in some sort of a mental health crisis. Thankfully, by applying the skills that he learned in the Crisis Intervention Team Academy, he has been lucky enough to make a difference. The Crisis Intervention Team Academy allowed him to police with the mentality that if he can impact or help even as little as one person, he is doing his job successfully. He looks forward to a long, healthy, and impactful career by continuing to be there for those in need and demonstrating the importance of crisis intervention.
Prior to his time in law enforcement, he received a bachelor's degree in justice studies from Rhode Island College, then graduated from the Rhode Island Municipal Police academy in May of 2022. Upon completion of the academy, he was the recipient of the Commander Raymond J. Shannon Leadership Award. Ptlm. Eli McGuire-Krueger has been a member of the CIT program since his completion of the training in September of 2023.He is a strong believer that this training is imperative to law enforcement and helps to establish not only bonds and rapport with individuals in crisis, but also with the community as a whole. In his free time he enjoy spending time with his family, golfing, and fishing.
Zachariah R. Kenyon is a dedicated public safety professional with over 23 years of service for the City of Providence. Chief Kenyon started in the Providence Fire Department in 2001 on the rescue 4 unit for the EMS division located on Washington. Becoming acting EMS Chief in 2017, he became acting was officially promoted to Deputy Assistant Chief and Chief of Emergency Medical Services in 2019.
Chief Kenyon helped initiate many different programs in the Fire Dept such as the Leave Behind Kits for Narcan program, Safe Stations, Mobile Integrated Health Diversion Team and the Providence Alternative Integrated Response and Emergency Diversion Team also known as PAIRED. These programs are vital to the city’s evolution to respond emerging health crisis challenges while improving health access, health promotion and substance use disorder prevention.
With over 38 years of experience in fire/EMS, Chief Craig E. Stanley is a highly accomplished and dedicated leader. Beginning his career with the Narragansett Fire Department as a call firefighter/EMT. Chief Stanley began his paramedic career in 1987 with Dekalb County EMS in Meto-Atlanta, Georgia. Chief Stanley retired as Assistant Chief with Gwinnett County Fire/EMS located in Metro-Atlanta, Georgia.
After retiring from the fire department, Chief Stanley has held leadership positions in the private sector overseeing EMS operations in Atlanta and implementing 911 operations in Dade County, Georgia, and Marion County, Tennessee. Chief Stanley has held paramedic instructor positions and is a legal consultant for several law firms in Atlanta, Georgia. Chief Stanley is currently the Chief of EMS for the Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
The Narragansett Police Department was one of the founding members of the CIT-RI program. Together with other departments in Washington County, Chief Corrigan pioneered CIT and encouraged departments from across Rhode Island to join. Sending officers to 40-Hour CIT trainings even before 2019, Narragansett now has over half of their department trained in CIT. Since 2020 they have worked alongside co-responder Alison Turner from The Providence Center to address calls related to mental health crisis.
Chief Corrigan began his career as a patrolman in 1996, and was promoted to a detective a few years later. He accepted the job as Chief in 2016. Under Chief Corrigan's tenure, the police department strives to promote a feeling of safety and security for all members of our community. They strive to be known as true partners and stakeholders in their desire to make Narragansett a vibrant town supporting families, culture, tourism, academics, the arts, and their environment.
Meg Clingham graduated from Rhode Island College and Catholic University School of Law. She then started her career as an assistant Public Defender, where she worked for 16 years in Family, District and Superior Court. She then briefly worked at the Child Advocate’s office. Then, she was appointed as Mental Health Advocate by Governor Chaffee in 2012.
Meg has been interested in and advocating for first responder training in mental health since her days as a Public Defender, and have been a proponent of the CIT model since she learned of it at the beginning of her tenure as Mental Health Advocate.
Amy Beth McCarthy is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who has been employed by Gateway her entire career. She gained a passion for Emergency Psychiatric Services which lead her to obtaining her Master's of Social Work from Rhode Island College in 2016. She served as the liaison from psychiatric hospitals across the state, the mental health court system, and a community crisis clinician until becoming a team leader for emergency services in 2019. At that time, she began to build a program for Gateway embedding master's level clinicians in police departments throughout the state.
In 2021, she attended the CIT-RI training in Bristol and her thinking of crisis intervention with the police departments shifted. Along with the support of Cranston Police Department, ideas about having plain clothes officers teamed up with clinicians to follow up with people who had interactions with the police due to mental health concerns, came to fruition. Beyond that, Amy has found a new dedication for teaching and training, especially first responders. After attending CIT-International Train the Trainer in Texas and the 40-hour basic crisis negotiation course hosted by the FBI, she hopes to be able to provide de-escalation skills to officers, command staff, and the community. Beyond her professional life, Amy is a mom to three sons, Emmett, Bryson, and Rylan, and the wife of Norman McCarthy. When she finds the time, she loves to bowl, make crafts using her Cricut, and photography.
Alison earned her MS from Johnson & Wales University in 2018 and has accumulated eight years of experience in the mental health field. Her career spans various settings, including inpatient hospitals, partial hospital programs, and substance abuse outpatient treatment programs. However, her primary focus has been crisis intervention within the community.
For the past six years, she has served as an embedded crisis clinician with police departments in South County, RI. In this role, she has expanded the program and customized her approach to meet the needs of each community. Alison's position is unique as it is the first multijurisdictional role in The Providence Center’s history of collaboration with police departments.
During her tenure, she gained valuable insights into mental health symptoms identification by officers and built a strong level of trust within each department. Integrating a clinician into these departments has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of mental health education and intervention.
CIT RI is hosting an event on August 20th, 9:00am - 3:00pm at the Wyndham Newport Hotel in Middletown, Rhode Island for this event!
Learn from leaders in the field about how you can implement a CIT program & celebrate our statewide CIT Champions!
Free parking, breakfast, and lunch will be provided at this event.
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