The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was recognized tonight as the first dementia-friendly sheriff’s office in the state of Alabama. Representatives of M4A — Assisting All Ages at All Stages — attended the Sept. 25 Shelby County Commission meeting to thank the commissioners for supporting a grant application earlier this year, and to recognize the sheriff’s office for its participation.

Outreach Director Robyn James reminded the commission of a grant M4A applied for in February, at which time the commission wrote a letter of support. That letter helped them receive the six-month, $10,000 grant, James said.

“We were able to develop a brand-new dementia-friendly toolkit that is to be used by law enforcement and first responders to train them on dementia,” James said.

The toolkit has three steps – to become dementia knowledgeable, dementia responsive and dementia sensitive. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office assisted by being the first law enforcement officers to go through the training, and by helping field test the training.

“We were able to train 140 law enforcement officers, and they also extended some of the training to Hoover and Pelham police departments,” James said.

The sheriff’s office will be identified as a dementia-friendly office through signage and other resources, which James said helps individuals with dementia feel welcome.