Cherylynn Lee, police psychologist and behavioral sciences manager at Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office, was recently awarded the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Behavioral Healthcare Practitioner of the Year Award by CIT International for its upcoming annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

More than 1,400 people, representing law enforcement professionals, behavioral healthcare providers and advocates, are expected to attend the event in August.

The award recognizes a person who demonstrates exemplary, ongoing commitment to being actively involved with CIT community partnerships and works to improve access to services within their own system or with the community mental health system.

Lee is a police psychologist who started at the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office as a volunteer. She was well regarded in that position and offered a part-time, and then a full-time job to start the Behavioral Sciences Unit.

She also created the agency’s first co-response program in partnership with county mental health. Lee wrote her department’s first eight-hour and 40-hour CIT curriculum, and teaches the courses.

She has developed a program where the community feels safe contacting law enforcement and co-response teams for mental health crisis assistance. Lee is the bridge between all things mental health and law enforcement in her community, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The CIT program is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and substance-use professionals, individuals who live with mental illness and/or substance use disorders, their families, and other advocates. For more, visit www.citinternational.org