Various BITs

This week’s blog is going to address a few recurring questions that we are getting about behavioral intervention teams.

1. What do you see as the ideal/appropriate functions of a BIT?

• Centralize reporting
• Triage reports
• Assess threat/risk
• Assess available resources
• Perform or empower interventions
• Coordinate follow-up
• Assess long-term success/outcomes
• Educate the community

2. What are some affirmative steps we can take to implement our BIT once we have formed it?

• Fully implement all twelve 2nd gen BIT best practices as identified by NCHERM in the Whitepaper posted at http://www.ncherm.org/pdfs/2009NCHERMwhitepaper.pdf
• Develop and implement strategies to empower a culture of reporting within your campus and community
• Conduct bystander intervention training for your students and staff
• Ensure access to adequate mental health services
• Train faculty & staff on what to report, how, when and to whom – supplement training efforts by your team members with the new online course Campus Safety 101 from MAGNA Publications (http://www.magnapubs.com/courses/cs101.html)
• Offer suicide gatekeeper training to your community (QPR, Campus Connect, etc.)
• Provide team training on aggression management (www.aggressionmanagement.com)

3. What are the responsibilities of a BIT post-intervention?

• Case management, such as:

-- Coordinate care, pharmacology and insurance issues that may inhibit long-term therapeutic goals
-- Prophylactically inhibit triggers that may impede an individual’s current level of coping (e.g., helping someone avoid over-involvement in activities that overwhelm; blocking opportunities such as study abroad, if access to needed supports will be an issue when abroad; coaching the individual on techniques to maintain a regimen of needed medications, etc.).

• Mind the gaps by occasionally checking in on the at-risk individual or those who can update on that individual’s status
• Coordinate compliance with team mandates
• Coordinate communication with parents, spouses, faculty, and other relevant stakeholders
• Ease voluntary withdrawal options (if necessary) by addressing financial and academic disincentives to withdrawing
• Assess areas where a referral or mandate for skills training is an ongoing need

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend and holiday.

Brett Sokolow