Equity is part of all our work
This collection holds the equity toolkit, our equity webinar seasons, and resources on bias and on Tribal Nations. Culturally responsive consultation is competent consultation.
What's in this collection
Equity is a central component of infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC). Every individual who is part of the IECMHC system has an important role to play in promoting fair, positive, and equitable learning experiences for all children and families.
Program planning
Program Planning and Reflection Tool (PPRT): An entire domain is devoted to equity and covers: developing a program-wide strategic plan; staff training; service population & service delivery; reflective supervision; and data collection.
Online trainings and webinars
Equity in IECMHC Webinar Series (2023 to 2024): This series of webinars introduces a set 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, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities (AANHPI).
Toolkits and resource collections
IECMHC Racial Equity Toolkit: The CoE’s 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.
Resource briefs
Promoting Black Joy and Countering Bias through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: This is a companion resource to the 2023 webinar, “Countering Bias and Promoting Black Joy in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation,” which is part of the CoE’s Equity in IECMHC Webinar series.
Assessments
Cultural and Linguistic Competence Self-Assessment Checklists: These tools are designed to assist managers and administrators in assessing the extent to which they demonstrate integration of cultural and linguistic competence into values, attitudes, communication styles, and the physical environment.
National reports and position statements
Diversity-Informed Tenets for Work with Infants, Children, and Families: The Diversity-Informed Tenets are guiding principles created to encourage the infant mental health field to intentionally and mindfully engage in standards of practice that promote and strive for a just and equitable society.
Working with Tribal communities and Nations
IECMHC Resources for Tribal Nations: This webpage provides a collection of resources to support programs, local governments and tribal nations in creating better services and systems for infants, toddlers and young children and their families through an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation program.
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Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Going Where the Children Are: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Across SectorsThis panel discussion will feature IECMHC programs serving professionals in childcare, pediatrics, obstetrics, and home visiting. Presenters will share experiences from one state’s cross-sector efforts to support providers serving majority low-income minority populations in their efforts to promote development, screen for/recognize mental health challenges, support/guide children/families, and connect families with services in the community, as needed. Panelists will discuss activities, principles, and tools used by IECMHCs, noting commonalities/differences between settings. Sector-specific special considerations and findings will be highlighted. Embedded in the discussion will be an understanding that the work of consultants and consultees across settings must recognize and address the impact of inequity on children and families of color, support resilience-building, and share hope with families who are disproportionately affected by systemic issues. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Inspiring Equity & Inclusion with IECMHCInfant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) in Ohio is finding new ways to improve equity and inclusion. We know the earlier the social, emotional, mental, and behavioral health needs of children are addressed the better the outcomes. Ohio’s IECMH-C Model addresses the needs of the individual child facing expulsion and improves the relational health amongst peers while promoting adult wellness. An IECMH Consultant & Master Trainer with 20+ years in the field and a visionary Childcare Center Director will explore how we are working together to put policy into practice. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Naqayeht’ana T’uh Our Community PlaceThe purpose of this presentation is to share insights from two indigenous Head Start program leaders and their mental health consultants in order to understand how historical traumas and injustices of Alaska Native Peoples have helped to frame mental health supports and services in their program. The speakers will share how they have worked to develop a sense of community place, Naquayht' ana Tuh, through a focus on Alaska Native values that are infused in their environment, curriculum, vision, and culture in order to support Native children and their families to reach their full potential, of which mental health is a central component. The speakers will share how they have begun to infuse the Pyramid Model framework while aligning with their mission and values, emphasizing culturally-responsive practices. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Ohio’s IECMH Journey: Building a Statewide IECMH Consultation Model From Logic to OutcomesSpeakers: Valerie Alloy, State IECMH SME, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Maureen Black, IECMH Workforce Coordinator, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Lisa Golden, IECMH State Administrator, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Parental Engagement from Promotion to PreventionThis workshop features guidance on parental engagement based on 15 years of experience at the Louisiana Statewide Child Consultation Program at Tulane University (TIKES). Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Seizing the Moment Using Policy to Leverage Funding to Advance I/ECMHCDuring this presentation state leaders, advocates, and Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (I/ECMHC) organizations will understand the trajectory of embedding I/ECMHC in early childhood education systems. The Illinois Model of I/ECMHC is one of the few in the nation that supports home visiting, Early/Head Start, preschool, center-based and home-based childcare, and Early Intervention, ensuring that I/ECMHC is available across the state. This presentation is part of a series highlighting the decades-long Illinois story of strong public and private partnerships with a bold vision and strong commitment to advancing I/ECMHC in collaboration with all partners, to ensure that I/ECMHC is available equitably across the state and delivered by a diverse and well-supported workforce Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): The Consultant is In Reducing Barriers to IECMH Consultation through “IECMH Virtual Office Hours”“IECMH Virtual Office Hours” is a new service model that has expanded access to mental health consultation in Pennsylvania. This workshop will introduce Virtual Office Hours as a short-term, solution-focused consultation service where IECMH Consultants meet directly with early learning/childcare program staff, parents/families, and other child-serving professionals via video conference. In this workshop, we will demonstrate how Office Hours works and discuss “lessons learned” from piloting the program. We will share how we launched the program, how consultants acquired new skills, and how Office Hours complements Pennsylvania’s existing child-specific IECMHC services. Equity considerations are at the heart of the Office Hours model, since we have successfully reduced barriers to consultation. We focus on equity with data collection and publicity efforts to reach families and early learning professionals who have not had access to IECMHC in the past. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): What You Do Next Matters: Discussions on Implicit Bias and Its Lasting Impact on Development Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference: Advancing Equity, Cultural Responsiveness & Trauma-Informed Practice through IECMHCTo achieve healthy outcomes for children, a system-wide commitment to leading with equity, trauma-informed practice, early relational health, and cultural responsiveness, must be established. To support the social-emotional wellbeing of children under 5, the adults surrounding them need ongoing support and attention to their own wellness. Adults teaching children birth to 5 were under-appreciated, underpaid, and overworked and lacking access to relationship-based supports even before the pandemic. They were then expected to be on the frontlines while being isolated from outside support due to COVID restrictions. The support systems designed to promote quality child care are often fragmented and driven by scores on observation tools rather than IECMH competencies and best practices. This system is in dire need of relationship-based practices and I/ECMHC to address these ongoing challenges and strengthen the workforce. The professionals who support the early care & education workforce through coaching, technical assistance, mentoring, consultation, and practicum roles can provide this onsite, individualized, relationship-based support. Our project model was designed to promote trauma-informed practice through programmatic and systems-focused IECMH Consultation to North Carolina’s early care & education support systems. The model is multi-level, including a 12-month learning collaborative model for classroom coaches, reflective supervision training for their supervisors, and practice-based intensive coaching with directors, teachers and family child care homes. The focus is on infant/toddler care, workday wellness, starting with self reflection, self awareness, self care and self-regulation; co-regulation to support social-emotional wellness in young children; and equity and cultural responsiveness in practices and relationships. ECE system leaders, local early childhood organization leaders, IECMHC providing system-wide & programmatic consultation. We hold ourselves accountable for demonstrating our commitment to equity and emphasize that we cannot successfully implement a trauma-informed approach if we are not effective in confronting systemic racism. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference: Conversations around Culture: Creating Safe & Brave SpaceWe are developing an IECMH consultation program centered around providing reflective support to the early childhood workforce. We have found that our model eases stress related to COVID-19 and its impact on all of us. Our model and practice is ever evolving based on the needs of the community in order expand on the capacity of the participants to care for themselves, each other, the children they are serving, and their community. Our target audience would be other mental health consultants, and program leaders, who are looking to find ways to shift and mold their practice to meet the needs of the community they serve while also cultivating a culture of wellness. We are infusing equity into our work by eliciting the ancient wisdom already present within participants to find ways to intentionally care for themselves and each other, to explore the implicit bias and cultural values that arise naturally with building relationships. Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference: Culture, Diversity and Positive Representation in Early Child Care Settings Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference: Holding Hope: How Washington Partners IECMHC with Coaching to Support Child Care ProvidersHolding Hope: IECMHC through Child Care Aware of Washington is a newly launched IECMHC service that intentionally partners MHCs with Early Achievers Coaches to support licensed child care providers in Washington. In addition to providing child/family, classroom, and programmatic IECMHC for child care providers, we also consult and partner with Coaches in an effort to build Coach capacity to prevent and respond to social/emotional and behavioral concerns and risk for expulsion in child care settings. The session shares stories and early lessons from the program's first year, for program leaders, MHCs, and anyone interested in MHC and Coach partnerships.