New Resource for Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (I-ECMHC) is a multi-level preventive intervention that teams mental health professionals with people who work with young children and their families to improve their social-emotional and behavioral health and development. I-ECMHC builds the capacity of teachers, providers and families, and includes skilled observations, the strengthening of teacher-family relationships, the identification of children with or at-risk for behavioral, developmental or mental health difficulties, and linkages to additional support services, as needed. I-ECMHC has demonstrated impacts for improving children’s social skills, reducing challenging behaviors, preventing preschool suspensions and expulsions, improving child-adult relationships, and reducing teacher stress, burnout, and turnover.
While there is no single dedicated funding source available for early childhood mental health consultation, there are a number of federal funding streams that can be paired with State and local funds to support this important service for young children and their families.