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Moments that Matter

Dear team,

Last week in my first note to you as secretary, I tried to convey my sincere belief that what you do matters. It is important to me that you know your work is appreciated and why it matters. With over 4,000 employees serving in eight divisions, it may be hard to always see the impact of your work. So, from time to time, I’ll be sharing “Moments that Matter.” These are examples of how the work we do as an agency and the people that do it make a difference in the lives of Hoosiers. I hope you’ll take the time to read them AND I hope you will send me examples of work you and your colleagues do that matters.

Here’s the first:

Did you know that one of the important activities underway within the Division of Mental Health and Addiction is a mini-grant program that pays for police officers across the state to take crisis intervention training? Crisis Intervention Training is designed to improve how communities come together to respond when someone is having a mental health crisis. This has been going on for about two years in partnership with NAMI Indiana, and is the result of work led by Amy Brinkley, bureau chief of DMHA’s Office of Consumer and Family Affairs.

Last April, the Columbus Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department sent five officers to a CIT training in Boone County. Then, two weeks ago came a real moment that mattered! That’s when a CPD officer and deputy sheriff who attended that training responded to a man in crisis threatening to jump from a bridge. The man had stated that he didn’t trust police officers. Despite this, the CPD officer was able to gain his trust by spending 45 minutes using the tactics she learned in her training: patience, empathy and listening. The man eventually agreed to move to a safer place and got the help he needed. This situation was resolved peacefully and without injury, and the officer checked on the man the next day, just like she promised she would.

I want to commend Amy and her team in DMHA. What might have seemed to some as a run-of-the-mill activity a few years ago, in fact saved someone’s life.

Thank you for what you do because what you do matters.

Dan

NOTE: If you have a moment that matters to share with Secretary Rusyniak, please email it to SecOffice@FSSA.in.gov with the heading Moments that Matter.