A timeline of CCIT-NYC's advocacy
FALL 2012
The inception of Communities for Crisis Intervention Teams in New York City (CCIT-NYC)
SEPTEMBER 2013
On the steps of City Hall, Council Members Rosie Mendez, Brad Lander, Jumaane Williams, and Margaret Chin join a coalition of 35 behavioral health providers and concerned citizens—at a press conference to call for the creation of specially trained crisis intervention teams in NYC.
SPRING 2015
Carla Rabinowitz and other CCIT- NYC Coalition members meet with NYPD officials to help guide them in creating the first CIT training curriculum for officers.
AUGUST 2015
After much advocacy by CCIT- NYC the Mayor’s office announces co response teams that pair trained police officers with social workers to respond to non crisis calls.
JULY 2017
CCIT-NYC held a forum for the mental health community with the Civilian Complaint Review Board to explain what their rights are in an interaction with police.
APRIL 2018
Saheed Vassell is the 10th fatal shooting of a person experiencing mental health crisis since the NYPD began training officers in CIT in June 2015.
August 2018
CCIT-NYC holds a forum to help inform the NYC Crisis Prevention and Response Task Force. The event was attended by then police chief Tobin and mental health commissioner Belkin.
JANUARY 2019
CCIT-NYC holds a community feedback forum about mental health crisis response.
WINTER 2020
CCIT-NYC adopts a new mission and vision that utilizes peers as first responders to mental health crisis calls. We also changed our name to Correct Crisis Intervention Today (CCIT) - NYC.
JANUARY 2020
The City of New York announces a plan to launch the Behavioral Health and Emergency Response Division also known as B-HEARD. These interdisciplinary teams – where two EMT workers are paired with a mental health professional – work to respond as a single unit to 911 mental health calls that do not have violence or weapons as the primary concerns.
SEPTEMBER 2024
After two years of advocacy the New York City Council holds a four committee joint oversight hearing on B-HEARD and mental health crisis response systems. The first panel, before the administration, were three CCIT-NYC steering committee members who identify as peers.
SPRING 2025
The New York City Council Progressive Caucus adopts CCIT-NYC’s $4.5M budget ask for peers in their FY ‘26 Crisis to Care platform.