Crisis Prevention Institute

What Crisis Prevention Institute does

Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), founded in 1980 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a privately held training and consulting firm specializing in evidence-based de-escalation, crisis prevention, and behavior management. The company serves human service professionals across Education, Health Care, Human Services, Behavioral Health, Dementia Care, Security, and Correctional verticals, with 17M+ professionals trained, 42,000+ Certified Instructors, and 20,000+ organizations supported globally.

CPI's product portfolio is anchored on proprietary trademarked methodologies — including the Crisis Development Model, Decision-Making Matrix, Verbal Escalation Continuum, COPING Model, and Supportive Stance — packaged into program brands such as Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI), Verbal Intervention, NCI with Advanced Physical Skills, Dementia Capable Care, MAPA, Reframing Behavior, and Prevention First. Delivery combines live in-person training via Global Professional Instructors, virtual sessions, on-demand modules, and consulting for policy development and regulatory alignment with OSHA, Joint Commission, and state mandates.

CPI monetizes through enterprise training certifications, biennial recertification of Certified Instructors, course and material licensing, live training, and consulting services, distributed via a direct enterprise sales motion and a train-the-trainer framework. Operations span seven physical locations across the US, UK, Australia, and UAE, with active customers in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the UAE. In April 2024 the company completed a $435M debt refinancing led by Jefferies Finance, Macquarie Capital, and Antares Capital, and has since pursued inorganic expansion through the January 2025 acquisition of Verge and a February 2026 investment in clinician-performance platform Arena Labs.

Name

Crisis Prevention Institute

Legal name

Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc.

Website

http://www.crisisprevention.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) is a privately held, Milwaukee-based training firm founded in 1980 that delivers evidence-based de-escalation, crisis prevention, and dementia care training to 20,000+ organizations across education, healthcare, human services, and related verticals worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crisis Prevention Training Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (611710), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Threat Assessment, Violence Prevention & Behavioral Intervention Support (EDAEACAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Crisis Response & Threat Assessment (Suicide Prevention, Violence Prevention) (EDAJAIAH), Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Services (EDALAFAD), Behavioral Support & Intervention Services (PBIS/Behavior Coaching) (EDAJALAH)

Keywords

• Crisis prevention training
• De-escalation training
• Workplace violence prevention
• Behavior management training
• Dementia care training

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Training Certification Programs: CPI certifies organizational trainers through its Instructor Certification Programs (ICP). Organizations pay to have staff become Certified Instructors, who then deliver training internally to colleagues using CPI's proprietary curriculum and materials.
2. Course and Material Licensing: CPI provides ongoing courses and training materials to Certified Instructors and organizations. Certified Instructors must attend refresher programs every two years to maintain certification, creating recurring engagement.
3. Live Training and Consulting: CPI offers live training sessions led by Training and Development Consultants for implementation advice and peer-to-peer strategy sharing. On-demand programs like Prevention First provide 30-minute online training modules for organization-wide deployment.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) delivers evidence-based de-escalation, crisis prevention, and behavior management training programs to human service professionals across education, healthcare, human services, behavioral health, dementia care, security, retail, and correctional settings. Its flagship offering is the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) program, supported by Verbal Intervention, Dementia Capable Care, Reframing Behavior, Prevention First, MAPA, and NCI with Advanced Physical Skills, all delivered through a proprietary train-the-trainer framework in which Certified Instructors (recertified every two years) train colleagues inside customer organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI): CPI's foundational training program providing evidence-based skills to safely recognize, respond to, and de-escalate crisis situations.
• Verbal Intervention
• Dementia Capable Care
• Prevention First
• Reframing Behavior
• MAPA (Management of Actual or Potential Aggression)

Products and services

• Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) Foundational training program providing evidence-based skills for staff to safely recognize, respond to, and de-escalate crisis situations, including safe disengagements and restrictive interventions. For frontline staff in education, healthcare, human services, and behavioral health settings.
• Nonviolent Crisis Intervention with Advanced Physical Skills (NCI with APS) Advanced tier of NCI for staff that support people demonstrating dangerous or complex behavior; teaches safe and advanced disengagement skills.
• Verbal Intervention (VI) Training program for organizations with a hands-off policy that instills confidence and skills to verbally de-escalate disruptive behaviors.
• Dementia Capable Care Evidence-based program teaching staff to safely de-escalate distressing situations and reduce pharmacological interventions in long-term care, memory care, and geriatric care settings serving individuals living with dementia.
• Reframing Behavior Neuroscience-based schoolwide training program teaching K-12 educators how trauma and stress affect student behavior, designed to be deployed across an entire school as an annual subscription.
• Prevention First 30-minute online, on-demand training program for healthcare personnel that teaches how to identify escalating behaviors and respond safely; designed for organization-wide deployment.
• MAPA (Management of Actual or Potential Aggression) CPI's registered aggression management program, delivered through the Instructor Certification framework to organizations that need to manage actual or potential aggression in care settings.
• CH-3 Holding Skills for Essential Care & Treatment Registered CPI program delivering holding skills for essential care and treatment, used in healthcare and human services settings requiring physical management of crisis situations.
• Instructor Certification Program (Train-the-Trainer) Train-the-trainer certification program in which Global Professional Instructors train select organizational staff to become Certified Instructors who then deliver CPI courses internally. Recertification is required every two years to maintain program fidelity.
• Person-Centered Perspectives: Autism Specialty topic training add-on within CPI's curriculum, focused on autism-related behavior support for educators, healthcare staff, and human services professionals.
• Person-Centered Perspectives: ADHD Specialty topic training add-on within CPI's curriculum, focused on ADHD-related behavior support for educators, healthcare staff, and human services professionals.
• Policy Development and Consulting Services Consulting services delivered by Training and Development Consultants to help organizations develop and review workplace violence prevention policies and procedures aligned with regulatory requirements such as OSHA, Joint Commission, and state mandates. Includes live training sessions for implementation advice and peer-to-peer strategy sharing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 89% of schools improved staff skills and confidence after CPI training
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Latham & WatkinsminorOthers · 24 April 2024Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to Jefferies Finance, Macquarie Capital, and Antares Capital in the US$435 million debt financing for CPI.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Mandt System: The Mandt System provides relational, trauma-informed crisis prevention and intervention training to healthcare, education, and human services organizations — a directly overlapping offering to CPI's Nonviolent Crisis Intervention programs with similar train-the-trainer distribution and vertical focus.
• NAPPI (Non-Abusive Psychological and Physical Intervention): NAPPI provides nonviolent crisis intervention training focused on safe management of aggressive behavior in behavioral health, education, and human services — a direct competitor serving the same customer segments with similar curriculum and certification structures.
• Cornell TCI (Therapeutic Crisis Intervention): Cornell University's Therapeutic Crisis Intervention program is widely used in residential childcare, education, and youth services settings, directly competing with CPI's Reframing Behavior and NCI programs in the human services and education verticals.
• QBS (Quality Behavioral Solutions) / Safety-Care: QBS provides Safety-Care behavioral safety training and crisis prevention programs for behavioral health, developmental disability, and education providers — overlapping with CPI's Verbal Intervention and NCI offerings for similar caregiver and educator audiences.
• MOAB Training International: MOAB (Management of Aggressive Behavior) provides crisis prevention and de-escalation training to healthcare, correctional, and education organizations with a comparable instructor-led delivery model to CPI.
• Pro-ACT: Pro-ACT provides professional assault crisis training for behavioral health, education, and human services, with instructor certification programs that directly overlap CPI's Certified Instructor model.
• Handle with Care: Handle with Care provides behavior management and crisis intervention training for healthcare, education, and corrections — directly competing with CPI's NCI program in similar vertical markets.

Broad incumbents

• HealthStream: HealthStream is a large healthcare workforce training and credentialing platform serving hospitals and health systems with compliance and clinical training. While broader than CPI, it overlaps directly in healthcare workplace violence, OSHA, and Joint Commission compliance training where CPI also competes.
• Relias: Relias provides online training, compliance, and workforce enablement for healthcare, behavioral health, and human services organizations — a broader incumbent whose digital delivery model increasingly competes with CPI's instructor-led training, especially in mid-market accounts.
• Vector Solutions: Vector Solutions provides workforce training and compliance solutions across education, healthcare, and public safety — overlapping with CPI's K-12 and healthcare customer segments through online training content that competes with CPI's Prevention First and Reframing Behavior on-demand programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cpi_training
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CPItraining
• Facebookfacebook.com/cpi.training
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crisis-prevention-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/crisispreventioninstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crisis Prevention Institute