Connecting with Families: Improving Access to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services
A series of issue briefs, funded by Perigee, outline opportunities to advance infant, early childhood, and parent mental health in Washington State. Informed by family, provider, community, and system leaders from across the state, these resources make the case for deepening the state's collective focus on supporting mental health and wellbeing during the earliest years. This brief highlights key findings from the Washington landscape regarding families' abilities to access the full spectrum of infant early childhood mental health (IECMH) supports that should be available from the IECMH system, from universal screening to engagement in comprehensive and effective IECMH treatment services.
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Culture, Identity, Sources, and History of Strength and Resilience for Tribal Communities
Archived Webinar September 1, 2021
The Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation offers virtual training webinars from experts on key topics in the field of infant & early childhood mental health, followed by meaningful discussion. Webinar 2, accessed on this webpage, examines issues of racialized inequities and bias on the early care and education experiences for Tribal Communities, explores traditional practices and their role in healing and resilience, examines the commonalities of IECMHC and traditional practices; and identifies practices and policies to strengthen cultural responsiveness in IECMHC for tribal communities, in order to reduce disparities and support children’s healthy development.
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) Racial Equity Toolkit
Planning Tool September 1, 2021
The new Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) Racial Equity Toolkit is a collection of videos, tools, and resources that can help consultation systems leaders and all IECMHC practitioners build capacity in understanding race and systemic racism, bias, and culturally responsive practice and meaningfully embed equity in their programs and practice. Each resource includes accompanying discussion questions that can guide reflection of the central issues.
Before, During, and After COVID-19: What We can Learn from Illinois Head Start’s Family Engagement and Social-Emotional Learning Practices
Blog August 17, 2021
Through a longitudinal, qualitative study with 20 Illinois-based Head Start/Early Head Start directors, the author of this blog provides a look into the novel and creative approaches that can inform ECE practice as we seek to recreate a new and improved “normal” in a post-pandemic world. Educators, administrators, and policymakers are provided with several key learnings that they can apply in their engagement of families of young children and provision of social-emotional support.