Free 40-hour crisis intervention course opens 30 seats in Wasilla

A free 40-hour crisis intervention certification course in Wasilla next month is capped at 30 students, with priority going to law enforcement officers and first responders serving the Mat-Su Valley. The interest form to apply is linked from the Alaska Police Standards Council training calendar. No application deadline is posted.

The Alaska State Troopers' Mat-Su Crisis Intervention Team is offering the five-day, in-person course Oct. 12 through Oct. 16, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Wasilla Police Department is hosting it at 801 N. Wasilla-Fishhook Road. The state training calendar lists the Mat-Su CIT Academy at no cost to participants, and the course flyer calls it police standards council certified.

Students who were previously wait-listed also receive priority, according to the Alaska Office of Emergency Medical Services announcement. Those selected will be contacted by email to confirm registration through an online interest form.

The course carries 35 hours of continuing medical education, including 13.5 hours toward the National Continued Competency Program core national component for medical education. Instruction covers de-escalation, Mat-Su community resources, and recognizing the signs of a mental health or addiction crisis. Organizers say the training aims to reduce recidivism by partnering with local service providers to direct people in crisis to support beyond the criminal justice system.

Crisis intervention academies have run in Alaska since 2001 in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and the Mat-Su, according to a 2020 Alaska Criminal Justice Commission report. That report describes the training as de-escalation technique meant to reduce harm to both the officer and the person in crisis.

Locally, the 2024 Mat-Su Behavioral Health Crisis System Annual Report counted 3,751 crisis-related calls answered from Mat-Su residents. Of those calls, 1,673 went to Careline/988, the crisis line, the report says.

Questions go to Amanda Graham with the Wasilla Police Department, at [email protected], or Wendi Shackelford with the University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Human Development.