Webinar: Centering Latin American children, families, and communities through an anti-racist, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive lens in IECMHC

This is the second in the series of resources to support infant and early childhood mental health consultants and supervisors to strengthen cultural responsiveness in IECMHC for children and families in Tribal, African American, Latin American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. This resource focuses on the importance of anti-racist, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive practices for IECMH consultants, supervisors, and leaders working with Latin American children, families, and communities.
Primary Focus Area: Latinx
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Mental Health in IECMHC: Why Mental Health Training is Essential to IECMH Consultants

This brief provides an overview of important mental health concepts and psychological processes that IECMH consultants employ to understand, support, and build capacity in consultees.s
Primary Focus Area: MHC Skills/Attributes
Resource Type: Resource Briefs

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation

A monograph summarizing the May 1998 Roundtable on Mental Health Consultation Approaches for Programs/Systems Working with Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers and Their Families. This monograph broadens the discussion on mental health consultation and presents approaches for early childhood programs, facilitates integration of mental health consultation into early care and education settings, and shares current thinking of program administrators and practitioners on promoting healthy development through mental health consultation in early childhood settings.
Primary Focus Area: Definitions/Background Information
Resource Type: Resource Briefs

Head Start Mental Health Consultation model

Trauma exposure is common among populations served by Head Start. However, little is known about how to use the current Head Start Mental Health Consultation model to promote identification and response to early childhood trauma. This storytelling presentation will illustrate strategies employed to adapt the existing Mental Health Consultation model to support Head Start children with exposure to trauma. Our project qualitatively examined Head Start Mental Health consultant notes for 165 children who had known trauma exposure, suspected trauma exposure, any social services involvement, and/or were identified by teachers as engaging in aggressive behaviors. A content analysis was conducted to identify strategies for adapting the existing Head Start mental health consultation model to engage trauma-exposed families and address signs of potential trauma exposure (e.g., sexual behaviors, aggression). Findings included the following strategies: (1) preparing teachers and other school personnel for difficult discussions with parents about mental health, (2) psychoeducation about boundaries and appropriate touch, (3) teaching emotion regulation skills, and (4) trauma screening, brief intervention/psychoeducation, and referral to treatment. Our presentation highlights one story illustrating the adaptations made by consultants to meet the needs of a Head Start family experiencing recent intimate partner violence. It is our intent that this presentation be used to inform clinical adaptations to existing services provided by Head Start Mental Health Consultants and other early child Mental Health Consultation settings to improve early intervention services for trauma-exposed youth.
Primary Focus Area: Messaging/Making the Case for IECMHC
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Leading An Equitable IECMH Team

A brief narrative session talking about how managers in the IECMH field can improve efficiency and increase equity within their teams. Strategies and Observations are shared from the experience of A Disability Director in a large Urban & Rural Head Start Program.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Transforming Narratives: Storytelling for Equity, Reflection, and Empowerment

Storytelling has the power to transform IECMH Consultation- by deepening reflective capacity, connections and resilience. Each of us is full of stories worth telling. What, when and how we choose to tell stories matters. Join us to experience the empowering process of claiming and sharing one’s story as a transformational reflective and connective practice.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Building a Successful Early Mental Health Consultation Program

Please join us for a brief overview of DC's Healthy Futures program Part 1: Building the Foundation Part 2: Creating Positive Partnerships Part 3: Expanding without Drifting Part 4: Testimonials
Primary Focus Area: Messaging/Making the Case for IECMHC
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health: Centering DEIBJ principles in Workforce

We look at the Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health’s (ILAIMH) workforce development system, focusing the IECMH Competencies and learning how they have been revised to inform thinking and advance DEIBJ (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice) principles in practice. A brief case is presented that brings to life these abstract ideas and illustrates how the Competencies are used in everyday practice, as well as in ILAIMH’s Credential process and Reflective Practice Groups to advance learning and reflection. ILAIMH developed and designed their IECMH Competencies to illustrate the ongoing interactions of five Core Competencies: 1.0 self-knowledge/reflective practice, 2.0 culture and diversity, 3.0 family and community systems, and 4.0 infant/child development in the context of relationships, with the understanding that all competencies are embedded in and informed by 5.0 professional ethics. This unique intersecting framework gives practitioners a way to hold multiple factors in mind as they think about and reflect on their work with infants/young children/families, care providers, colleagues, communities, and systems. The ILAIMH Competencies are a tool for developing awareness, a framework for professional development in the field – allowing for new learning and the integration of complex ideas across multiple disciplines. Whatever the context, the 5 core competencies occur simultaneously and reflect the complexity and originality of IECMH work.
Primary Focus Area: Workforce Development
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Unveiling the Essential IECMHC Activities for Promoting Equity and Relationships

This workshop showcases the results of a consensus-building study that defined the core IECMHC activities, emphasizing relationships and equity. Using the Delphi method, experts reached a consensus on essential elements and activities of IECMHC, yielding a list of five essential elements and 27 activities. Panelists rated them, achieving an 80% consensus for all elements and most activities. The resulting Essential IECMHC Activities list guides practitioners, integrating consultation's "what" and "how" with a consultative stance. This list promotes equity and clarity in services. The workshop will present findings and encourage attendees to implement equity-promoting actions in their practices, supporting diverse infants and children's social-emotional well-being. Overall, it offers a deep dive into IECMHC activities and their role in equity.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Diversity Pathways for Maryland’s IECMHC Workforce

While there has been increased attention on the importance of having a racially and culturally diverse workforce, much of the IECMHC workforce nationally are White women, and recruitment and retention of BIPOC staff is something many programs struggle to achieve. In this session, presenters will describe Maryland’s efforts to support and retain existing IECMHC staff and to expand and diversify the IECMHC workforce. Efforts to support existing staff include the creation of a universal onboarding series, development of statewide minimum salaries, and formation of a Black affinity group. Some of the methods implemented to diversify the workforce include the creation of internship pathways and expansion of what it means to be qualified for IECMHC positions in Maryland. Throughout the presentation, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on and share how they are already supporting the IECMHC workforce in their respective regions and ways in which they can expand their efforts. This presentation is geared towards IECMHC leaders and funders at the local and state levels. This content has not previously been presented, but parts of this presentation have been published in a report titled Maryland IECMHC Workforce Salary Report.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars