NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee has landed a $660,000 federal grant to expand a behavioral health training initiative to eight primarily rural counties.
A statement from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse says the three-year U.S. Department of Justice grant will expand crisis intervention training for law enforcement officers to Sumner, Wilson, Smith, DeKalb, White, Putnam, Overton and Cumberland counties.
The department says the program is a 40-hour training aimed at improving outcomes of officers' encounters with people with behavioral health challenges.
The initiative was first implemented in Memphis in 1988 and has since grown to include 18 of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Volunteer Behavioral Health Care System is helping implement the grant. The University of Memphis will provide monitoring and evaluation services.