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

The Differences are Between and Around

Someone once said, “When racism fell, we were all outside.” This quote speaks to challenges from “-isms” that plague society and influence each of us differently. What we cannot deny is that we are all influenced. Thankfully, there are many who refuse to tire in the fight for equity! Join us as we explore Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Model. We will look at this framework as a lens for understanding IECMH. We hope that this will eliminate the bias we have in our understanding of everyday interactions. Individuals who participate in this session will walk away with a new way to "question" what they are seeing and activate their wonderings.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Going Deeper to Increase Self- Awareness and Culturally Responsive Services

The Jump Start Early Childhood Consultation Program is currently in its 5th year of implementation. It utilizes the Georgetown model and adapted it to the unique challenges, population and landscape of the Miami-Dade community. The goal of the program is to improve the capacity of childcare providers to address the social-emotional needs of young children in their care and, in turn, reduce the number of young children expelled from their centers. Empirical research demonstrates that children of color face disproportionate risks starting as early as preschool that can perpetuate a cycle of harmful long-term effects. For this reason, and the fact that the Miami-Dade community is very diverse, with non-Hispanic whites comprising only 11.5 % of the population (72.5 % Hispanic, 16% African American, Haitians and other groups), an important goal of the Jump Start Program is to embed equity, inclusion and cultural humility into all aspects of the work. The large Jump Start team includes 27 consultants who are culturally and linguistically representative of the population they serve. From the start increasing consultants’ awareness and ability to promote social and racial equity was a priority. Initially, didactic trainings from national experts were provided. However, it became apparent that in order to make a real impact - work needed to be done at a deeper level. For the past 9 months, our team has partnered with the Indigo Cultural Center, having monthly dialogues around these important topics. Dr. Shivers and Ms. Johnston lead these monthly groups with Jump Start Supervisors and Equity Champions. The Champions, in turn, lead monthly groups with the rest of the consultants. In this presentation, the Jump Start Program’s model to increase staff’s awareness and ability to provide culturally responsive services will be discussed, including the process of selecting equity champions, their roles, and the parallel process as far as the impact this work has on teachers and children. The target audience for this presentation is all IECMH consultants and supervisors. It is our hope that this model can be replicated to propagate equity and inclusion across childcare centers and other early childhood programs.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Hand in Hand’s Parenting and Teaching for Social Justice A Model Learning Collaborative

Please join us for an experiential session where you will have the opportunity to try out a unique self-reflective practice tool that you can bring to your work with peers and mentors. We will also share our experience designing and leading an innovative equity-focused professional development curriculum: Hand in Hand Parenting’s Parenting and Teaching for Social Justice Learning Collaborative in which participants use this self-reflective practice tool to focus specifically on healing from the impact of systemic oppression. Hand in Hand’s Learning Collaborative was organized to support our 250+ Certified Instructors who work with parents and early care and education professionals. The Learning Collaborative is focused on changing our own attitudes and tackling the emotional hurdles we face while working for justice. We work to heal from internalized oppression, so we can continue to reclaim confidence and power and enjoy our children and advocate for them, and we work to undo attitudes that fuel oppressive systems, so we can take intentional action and support the leadership of those who have been marginalized. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants and others working with parents and early care and education professionals (Home Visitors, Head Start/Early Head Start educators, and Early Intervention providers) may be especially interested in this session.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

Tracing three parallel histories of IECMHC in SF and their impact on equity today

San Francisco’s IECMHC (SF-ECMHC) Initiative is recognized for its grounding in cultural practice and cultural communities and for holding lasting consultation relationships. We present data for how equity from the start of an initiative can impact the development of a diverse IECMHC workforce. We illustrate the initiative’s maintained dedication to cultural communities by employing consultants who mirror those communities and share the impact of consultant-consultee match on IECMHC outcomes. We acknowledge the ‘Sankofa Effect’ – looking back to move forward. We look back on the distinct, parallel histories of the SF-ECMHC Initiative, which are deeply connected to equity and cultural communities. We highlight the history of Instituto Familiar de la Raza’s (Instituto) and the establishment of the Proveedora Program in 1986 to meet the needs of the Chicano/Latino community, many of whom experienced traumas from immigrating amid Central America’s civil war and were not accustomed to child care provided by "strangers." Finally, we provide conceptualizations for why the consultant-consultee match cultivates stronger and more impactful consultation, highlighting concepts like power, lived experience, and collectivism.
Primary Focus Area: Equity
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars

IECMHC 101

With the current growth in the practice of this kind of IECMH Consultation, it is important to keep fidelity. This session will provide introductory key points and resources about what is needed to provide effective IECMH Consultation services. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation is a growing field with mounting evidence that this practice supports meeting caregivers 'where they are,' in settings and in their work places. Consultants meet caregivers 'where they are,' so that the caregivers can better support young children's (and their families') emotional and social development. IECMHC primarily started out in Early Childhood Education (ECE) classrooms, and is now slowing making its way into other service settings that have a touch in young children's lives (prenatal to 5 yrs. old), like pediatric clinics, home visiting programs, child welfare services, home-based child care, and many other settings.
Primary Focus Area: Messaging/Making the Case for IECMHC
Resource Type: Online Trainings/Tutorials/Webinars