Fund it and sustain it
Here's our financing guidance and sustainability playbook. It covers braided funding, champions and partnerships, messaging, policy integration, and adapting when the political weather changes.
What's in this collection
Financing and sustaining infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) services is a critical, yet daunting task. In addition, this section provides access to information on funding streams and proven strategies as well as other pathways to sustainability.
IECMHC and the early childhood system
Overview of the IECMHC Approach within the Early Childhood System: This resource provides an overview of how IECMHC fits within a larger early childhood system. It offers information on the different components of an integrated IECMHC approach and identifies important strategic partners.
Financing IECMHC efforts
Financing Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Frequently Asked Questions: This brief answers some frequently asked questions about funding for infant and early childhood mental health consultation, which can be a complex and thorny issue.
Financing Guidance for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: This brief provides a deeper look into funding streams that states, tribes, and communities might access to support IECMHC services.
Sustainability
IECMHC Sustainability Modules: These modules examine six pillars of sustainability for IECMHC programs. Each module provides context, proven strategies, success stories, and potential obstacles to consider when developing a sustainability plan.
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Most usedSelf-assessmentProgram Planning and Reflection Tool (PPRT)The PPRT helps programs at any stage of development see where to focus planning, implementation, or improvement. Program leaders look at their progress in five domains: Program Structure, Workforce, Program Evaluation, Equity, and Policy & Financing. From there, they build a growth plan that fits the program’s needs and goals. Most usedReportState ProfilesHow every state funds, staffs, and runs infant and early childhood mental health consultation, from our national scan. CourseIECMHC Sustainability ModulesInitiating and ultimately sustaining infant and early childhood mental health consultation activities involves more than just having a great program. Strategic funding decisions and policy development can be critical to ensuring that IECMHC activities are integrated into established child-serving systems and have the potential to make lasting impact. In this module, we have identified five areas of sustainability to consider in addition to financing. GuidePartner and field links Webinars and events2022 CoE Conference (Workshop Session): Developing a culturally responsive, anti racist, statewide IECMHC system: Centering the margin 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: 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 eventsAddressing equity across the early childhood systemAddressing equity across the early childhood system: How Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation is being implemented across a variety of early childhood settings. This panel session will feature leaders working across a variety of early childhood system settings including home visiting, early intervention, child welfare and primary care. They will describe how they have been able to work within these systems, foster collaboration and the challenges of providing consultation outside of the traditional early care and education settings. Addressing equity includes ensuring that services such as consultation are available to children, families and providers in all the settings in which families receive supports and services and panelists will engage in the challenges of doing this as well. Webinars and eventsApplying the FAN Model to Integrate Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health ConsultationIn 2020, the Sacramento County Office of Education partnered with the Sacramento County Department of Health Services to place a mental health clinician in each of our 385 public schools in our County. The Early Childhood Education department envisioned this would be an excellent opportunity to expand ECMH Consultation services in the county, as California was beginning to expand Transitional Kindergarten throughout the state, bringing an increasing number of 4-year-olds onto public school sites. Attempting to integrate Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation services into a large, expanding school-based mental health and wellness grant has presented many challenges, setbacks and successes that the speaker will share. Among them, she will discuss the process of adapting Dr. Linda Gilkerson's ‘Facilitating Attuned iNteractions’ (FAN) Model as a framework for partnering with complex systems to support reflection, listening to others, collaborative exploration and beginning steps towards capacity building of mental health clinicians in an educational setting. The presenter will share outcomes of her initial professional development workshop and exciting opportunities to expand ECMH consultation through Sacramento County in the coming years to address early childhood inequities and bias toward boys of color. Participants will be given the opportunity to reflect on how core principles and practices of IECMHC may be integrated into their work with complex systems. Target Audience: IECMH Consultants who work with complex systems. Webinars and eventsBuilding a Successful Early Mental Health Consultation ProgramPlease 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 ReportCentering Racial Equity: Design Considerations for Oregon’s Statewide Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) Program Webinars and eventsClosing Early: Equitable Implications of Factors that Impact Longevity of Consultation RelationshipsOutcomes of IECMHC are protection and promotion of health and well-being of children and adults. However, the early closure of consultation relationships severely limits these expected outcomes. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the early care and education (ECE) landscape and exacerbated structural challenges. These lasting disruptions impacted the capacities and functioning of families, ECE programs and providers. In addition, disruptions led to a “mass exodus” of educators from the field (Harry et al., 2022; Eadie et al., 2021). Thus, examining the current landscape of early closures in this “pandemic to endemic” era (the era following the height of COVID-19) and identifying factors that foster the continuation of consultation is essential. Using data from South Carolina's PEAR network collected with 80 ECE sites in 2020-2023, we present the landscape of early closures via the proportion of sites that “completed” consultation and the reasons for early closures (e.g., child expulsion, teacher turnover). Further, we explore factors contributing to early closures via attrition analyses and expert anecdotal evidence from PEAR consultants.