State mental health policy: statewide implementation of the crisis intervention team program: the Ohio model

This column discusses ways that states can implement community-based best practices statewide, by using the crisis intervention team (CIT) model as an example. Although state mental health authorities may want to use a top-down approach to ensure uniform, high-quality implementation, programs may be more likely to succeed if they arise as bottom-up, grassroots innovations. Programs like CIT are especially challenging to implement because they involve collaboration between complex systems and affect multiple stakeholders. The column describes lessons learned in Ohio in hopes of assisting other states in implementing this and other innovations.