Mental-health board honors 5

YOUNGSTOWN — Local leaders from judges to congressional-office representatives to treatment- center directors paused from their work for an hour today to recognize the hard work of those who serve people dealing with mental-health issues and addiction.

The Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board gave five awards at its “May is Mental Month” celebration.

New Middletown Police Chief Vincent D’Egidio, who was invited to speak about Crisis Intervention Team training, was surprised to learn that he is the 2015 CIT advocate award winner.

He said police don’t always understand mental health problems or how to deal with them.

“When we started getting involved with the crisis-

intervention training ... what a difference that made,” D’Egidio said. “We realized we needed to be advocates for [people dealing with mental-health

issues] too.”

All of his officers have gone through CIT training or will go through it in June.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com