Domain 7 of 8
Programmatic Consultation
Key points
- Aims for program-wide impact: the overall social and emotional climate, issues affecting more than one child or staff member, and equitable policy.
- Begins with a clear agreement and an understanding of the program's structure, mission, culture, and community context.
- Includes group facilitation, program-wide approaches to mental health, and planning for support during crises or disasters.
Maintains a systemic approach and aims for program-wide impact through a focus on multiple issues that affect the overall quality and equity of an early childhood setting.
Works to enhance programmatic functioning by assisting program administrators and/or staff in considering their program’s overall social and emotional climate; solving issues that affect more than one infant or young child, staff member, and/or family; analyzing and using disaggregated data to track program-wide disparities in both opportunity and disciplinary practices; and developing and implementing policies that create more equitable experiences for infants or young children and families.
7A Understands and Attends to Program Cultural Context, Design, and Infrastructure
Core Skills
- 7A.1
- Initiates consultation services with an agreement outlining roles, scope of work, frequency, duration, and related issues.
- 7A.2
- Establishes a relationship with program leadership in a manner that builds the program’s capacity to embed equitable and inclusive practices that champion social and emotional wellness in program functioning; promote the relational health of infants, young children, families, and staff; and foster infants’ and young children’s healthy social and emotional development.
- 7A.3
- Learns about a program’s organizational structure, including staff roles and responsibilities and lines of authority. Shares information about the role of the consultant, including its parameters and limitations. Uses established pathways to engage all members of the organization to ensure that all voices are heard and considered, particularly those that have been marginalized.
- 7A.4
- Becomes familiar with and works within a program’s mission and policies, especially those impacting staff development, family engagement, and positive behavioral supports, and provides recommendations to build the program’s capacity to strengthen and embed equitable and inclusive practices to reduce potential disparities in disciplinary practices, access, and opportunity and improve infant and young child outcomes.
- 7A.5
- Develop an authentic understanding of the communities within which a program is located. This encompasses discovering and documenting the life of the community, including its history, power structures, and service structures.
- 7A.6
- Pays particular attention to program policies that may disproportionately disadvantage certain groups of infants and young children due to race/ethnicity, primary language, culture, abilities, disposition, and life circumstances.
- 7A.7
- Facilitates the discovery of gaps between policies and program practices that impact the provision of a healthy social and emotional climate and that are related to infant and young child outcomes.
- 7A.8
- Identifies factors (including policies, practices, leadership style, and professional development) that influence a program’s social and emotional climate.
- 7A.9
- Evaluates the efficacy of program-level intervention strategies, and revises them as needed to ensure that they respect and respond to family culture, values, and language.
- 7A.10
- Elicits and explores multiple perspectives in understanding concerns within a program, encourages the development of clear lines of communication between program staff, and represents the perspectives of consultees to others across all levels of the institutional hierarchy. Fosters solutions that build collaborative relationships, include the cultural perspectives of program staff and families, and support common goals.
- 7A.11
- Facilitates effective interventions to address relational difficulties that negatively impact a program’s mental health climate. Understands interpersonal dynamics associated with race/ethnicity, primary language, culture, abilities, disposition, and life circumstances and how these issues, if left unaddressed, can manifest in conflicts, tensions, and misunderstandings. Understands the context of the community in which a center functions, including factors related to its history, culture, language, values, strengths, and resilience.
7B Supports and Facilitates Program-Wide Approaches to Supporting the Mental Health of Infants and Young Children and Families
Core Skills
- 7B.1
- Coordinates with and among external quality-enhancement efforts and internal program resources (e.g., instructional coaches, T/TA efforts, program leadership).
- 7B.2
- Shares information about resources and best practices to support programmatic decision-making and effective implementation of program-wide approaches to healthy social and emotional development.
- 7B.3
- Provides guidance related to resource selection and adaptation in a manner consistent with a specific program’s philosophy, needs, and culture.
7C Engages in Group Facilitation
Core Skills
- 7C.1
- Facilitates group processes that support staff in working toward and maintaining a focus on established goals. Attends to and manages complex group dynamics.
- 7C.2
- Promotes being sensitive to the feelings of others, communication, and/or activities that facilitate mutually respectful relationships, interactions, and teamwork.
- 7C.3
- Offers direction during times of ambiguity, maintaining a focus on both promoting infants’ and young children’s healthy social and emotional development and cultural well-being and supporting caregivers’ mental health needs.
7D Supports and Facilitates Plans for Mental Health Support During Crises or Disasters
Core Skills
- 7D.1
- Facilitates or links programs or other settings to appropriate resources when developing and implementing plans to prepare for or respond to disasters or crises.
- 7D.2
- Provides guidance related to the manner in which crisis drills are implemented. Considers developmentally appropriate explanations, procedures, advance preparation, and debriefing for staff, families, and infants and young children. Anticipates potential negative impacts of crises on individual and or groups of children and families, and proactively establishes plans to address needs and concerns before, during, and after the crisis.
- 7D.3
- Recognizes the nature and parameters of the consultant’s role during crises and is familiar with available crisis services. Considers the importance of the timing of the consultant’s entry or reentry into a program or other setting recently impacted by crisis.
Source: Competency text is reproduced from Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Competencies, Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (2020 edition).
