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Program History The
Center has always provided emergency psychological
services to community members, but the need for a formalized
procedure became more pressing in 1995 after a series
of tragic incidents in the community. Familiar with
Critical Incident Stress Management and other formal
trauma debriefing services available to first responders,
the Center recognized that victims, witnesses, friends,
family members, and co-workers could benefit from on-scene
emotional support after traumatic incidents. With this
in mind, Dr. Lorraine Rose, Assistant Clinical Director
of TMCC, developed the Crisis Response Team (CRT) program
and became its first coordinator in 1998; in 2001,
Anne Kellogg became the program coordinator.
The Beverly Hills Charitable Foundation
provided seed money with matching funds by Linda and
Gary
Briskman,
for the development of a procedures manual, contact
with law enforcement agencies and the recruitment
and training of the first class of Crisis Response
Team
Counselors. TMCC has subsequently graduated fifteen
classes of CRT counselor candidates and currently
has a team of 40 volunteer counselors and five
CRT staff
supervisors. On-going funding is currently made
possible by the cities of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood
and
Culver City, and private donations. This on-going
funding allows for all crisis intervention services
to the
community to be provided free of charge.
Program Details CRT
counselors respond on a 24/7 basis to calls from the
police, sheriff and fire departments. The CRT primarily
serves the communities of Beverly Hills, Culver City,
West Hollywood, and Marina Del Rey. However, the CRT
responds to request for service throughout the Southern
California region. As of January 2008, TMCC's CRT has
responded to over 750 crisis calls, serving in excess
of 5,000 victims, survivors, witnesses, loved ones,
and family members involved in traffic collisions,
sexual assaults, suicides, robberies, deaths of children,
partner abuse, hate crimes, shootings, in-home accidents,
and other traumatic incidents.
The CRT has received formal recognition from numerous
law enforcement agencies, fire protection services,
city representatives, business owners, and private
citizens for their professional, compassionate, dedicated,
and effective interventions
Training Sessions TMCC
offers a free 10-week training typically during the
fall of every year. The Center is always looking for
dedicated new Team members to volunteer as crisis counselors.
The trainings are open to all members of the community
and the applicants who successfully finish the training
receive a certificate of completion. The trainings
offer approximately six weeks of speakers typically
including representatives from local law enforcement,
fire protection agencies, The Rape Treatment Center,
Sojourn (addressing domestic violence and partner abuse),
the L.A. Coroner's Office, Survivors After Suicide,
Our House (focusing on children's experience of trauma/loss),
and other experts on issues related to traumatic loss.
The remaining weeks are dedicated to more "hands
on" training including education regarding the
physiological affects of trauma, specific training
on the CRT's approach to on-scene crisis intervention,
and opportunities for candidates to practice through
role plays and other interactive exercises.
Those candidates interested in officially
joining the Crisis Response Team will be required to
attend
advanced
trainings and regularly scheduled supervision as
well as successfully pass: a written exam, performance
evaluations,
and a security screening through fingerprinting.
Candidates formally accepted to the Crisis Response
Team will
be eligible to take call and respond, on-scene,
to crisis calls. These volunteer counselors work along
side police, fire, and sheriff's departments providing
free, on-scene support, information, and referrals
for survivors of trauma or serious loss such as
in
cases of suicide, homicide, fire, robbery, death
of a child, auto vs. pedestrian, partner abuse,
hate crimes,
etc.
Mandatory ongoing supervision and training is held
monthly for all accepted CRT counselors.
If you have any questions about the
program, or are interested in becoming involved in
The Maple Counseling Center’s Crisis Response
Team, please contact us through the numbers or emails
below.
Anne Kellogg, Program Coordinator, Crisis Response
Team
(310) 271-9999 x228
akellogg@tmcc.org
Judy Wu, Assistant Coordinator, Crisis Response Team
(310) 271-9999 x252
jwu@tmcc.org
Location for Training
The Maple Counseling Center
9107 Wilshire Boulevard, Lower Level
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Doheny)
CRT
Application
Apply Online or Download
CRT Application [PDF],
complete, and return to the address Below
The Maple Counseling Center
Attn: Judy Wu
9107 Wilshire Boulevard, Lower Level
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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