The 2022 Virginia Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Behavioral Health Provider of the Year Award was presented to Randy Smith. Randy is the ESCSB’s Supervisor of Transitional Programs, Forensic Programs, & Training. His contributions to the Eastern Shore CIT program have been invaluable, and his dedication to improving the behavioral health system in his community is admirable.
In August 2015, Randy attended a 40-hour CIT Class where he quickly became involved in launching the CIT program on the Eastern Shore. Combining his experience in the behavioral health field, his energy, and his willingness to do whatever it takes have been essential in developing the program. Randy’s commitment and active involvement with community partnerships have greatly enhanced the Eastern Shore CIT program’s success.
However, Randy’s contributions go far beyond what is described in his official description. In July 2016, Randy became a certified CIT Instructor, and he has served as a Lead Instructor on the CIT Training Steering Committee ever since. He is actively involved in all meetings, planning, and preparing for 40-hour classes while maintaining his full-time job duties at the ESCSB. Randy does whatever is needed to make the 40-hour CIT Class successful, arriving early and staying late each day.
Randy is pictured on the right with John Konkel on the left.
Randy is a quick and creative problem solver, and his talents as an actor were clear in the CIT class role-plays. Where he serves as both a dispatcher and panel member as needed during class role-play. Randy’s creativity is always evident, and he is always coming up with new ideas. One creative idea was the “double whammy role-play,” a two-act role-play that starts in the community and transitions into the ER setting. The double whammy teaches many aspects of the crisis continuum and stresses the importance of passing down information from one provider to the next while providing trauma-informed crisis services. Randy’s idea was shared at a CIT Coordinator’s Conference, and the double whammy two-act role play is now being used in CIT classes around Virginia.
Aside from all of his behind-the-scenes work and acting abilities, Randy’s greatest strength is his knowledge, expertise, and experience as a behavioral health provider. Randy is an excellent public speaker and has facilitated annual training for ESCSB employees for many years. His years of experience working with individuals with serious mental illness make him the perfect fit for training officers for CIT, as Randy’s knowledge and experience give our students real, genuine, first-hand information that directly helps them during crisis situations.
The Eastern Shore CIT program would not be where it is today without Randy and his contributions to the team. Randy brings over 25 years of experience in the behavioral health field, with 17 years of those years at ESCSB. He is an invaluable asset to his community and the Eastern Shore CIT program. Randy’s dedication to CIT has greatly enhanced the program’s success, and he has demonstrated ongoing commitment and active involvement with our CIT program and its growing community partnerships. His commitment and enthusiasm for CIT continue to be a tremendous asset to our program.
Congratulations to Randy Smith for his well-deserved recognition as the 2022 Virginia CIT Behavioral Health Provider of the Year!
