IECMHC in Child Welfare
Children in foster care change placements, schools, and caregivers. Consultation steadies the adults around them so care doesn't become another disruption.
Holding the People Who Hold the Baby
Upcoming 1 to 2pm ET
A free national webinar on what infant and early childhood mental health consultation looks like inside child welfare. Neal Horen is joined by Monica McDonough of the Arizona Department of Child Safety and Molly Murphy Garwood and Golshan Motamedi of Children's Wisconsin.
- Why the adults around a baby need support to use what they know
- What reflective consultation looks like for caseworkers, caregivers and supervisors
- Early findings from child welfare leaders across more than a dozen states
What consultation looks like in child welfare
Project PLAY(opens in a new tab) is the consultation arm of BehaviorHelp, Arkansas's statewide expulsion prevention system. Its team also teaches case workers, foster parents, courts, and CASA volunteers why stable, high-quality child care matters for children in foster care.
Who the consultant works with
Consultants work with caseworkers, foster parents, kinship caregivers, CASA volunteers, and the early childhood programs serving children in care.
What changes
Adults learn to read behavior as communication about loss and disruption. The goal is placements and child care enrollments that hold.
Where it fits
Consultation can go first to centers that serve children in foster care. Judges, court staff and caseworkers can get training too.
The evidence snapshot
Here's what the research shows in child welfare. Every item below has a named source.
Foster care raises the risk of expulsion
In Arkansas's statewide expulsion prevention system, 1,195 children in 488 programs were referred for help. Being in foster care was one of the risk factors for expulsion, and children in foster care were more likely to get a consultant.
Conners Edge et al., 2021
5% expelled
Of 829 cases Arkansas's Project PLAY has closed since BehaviorHelp began, 44 children were expelled. A quarter of referred children had current or past foster care experience.
Project PLAY annual report, FY24-25
Read the full evidence
See it in practice
- Supporting Children in Foster Care (opens in a new tab)How consultation in early care and education can help children in foster care and the teachers and staff who care for them.
- Consultation as a Support for Children in Foster Care (opens in a new tab)A 2022 conference workshop on what consultants should consider when they serve children in the foster care system.
- Addressing Equity Across the Early Childhood System (opens in a new tab)A panel of leaders from home visiting, early intervention, child welfare and primary care on bringing consultation into their systems.
Children in care need adults who can hold steady
Three ways in
- Train your own staff: build consultation capacity inside your program with the Practical Certificate.See the Practical Certificate
- Get consultation now: Georgetown consultants work with your staff virtually, starting within days.See Virtual Consultation
- Design your system: we help you plan and build a system of consultation support.See Technical Assistance