Structure the service
Here you'll find program design documents, logic models, and our program manual. They show how consultation is structured inside a program.
What's in this collection
Program structure: the nuts and bolts of IECMHC service delivery and IECMHC program infrastructure, what you provide, to whom, where, and how, and how to pull it all together.
Laying the groundwork: community context
As programs and practitioners develop IECMHC services, it is important to explore community needs and strengths, including the cultural and systemic context, and apply findings strategically to the consultation approach.
Sample Needs Assessment: Conducting a needs assessment with stakeholders is a crucial first step in designing an IECMHC program.
Program design
Program Planning & Reflection Tool (PPRT): The PPRT is a comprehensive program design tool, and a good starting point for program design efforts.
Design element 1: mission, vision, and values
Program design should be grounded in a well-articulated vision that reflects program values and aligns with program goals. To organize concepts for both program development and evaluation purposes, theories of change and logic models serve as “roadmaps” that graphically depict the connections between the community context, the actions to be undertaken, and the desired outcomes.
Design element 2: service settings and eligibility
An essential component of service design is specifying where and to whom services will be provided.
Designing an IECMHC Program: Four Essential Building Blocks: This brief reviews four key areas of program design, including eligibility determination, and offers examples of how they have been implemented in a range of IECMHC programs.
Design element 3: service array and intensity
Clearly delineating the services that your program does, and does not, provide, as well as the “dosage” of consultation offered is critical.
The Essential Activities of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: The CoE conducted a consensus-building research study to distill the essential activities of IECMHC.
Design element 4: consultation phases
The sequencing of consultation services is another important design element. The Center of Excellence has identified three major phases of IECMHC work: Initiation, Service Delivery (encompassing plan development, implementation, and revision), and Service Conclusion.
A Day in the Life of an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant: This resource contains a series of real-life vignettes that describe the different phases of the work that a MHC may encounter in the course of an average day.
Design guidance from the field
Program Manual Planning Document: The Program Manual Planning Document was created to help programs with the complex task of creating a program manual. Each of the eight sections has recommendations, sample language and links to resources.
IECMHC and the Pyramid Model: different yet complementary
Understanding Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and the Pyramid Model: Many programs have both IECMH consultants and Pyramid coaches working together or in parallel. This brief provides information on how consultation and coaches fit together and highlights important differences.
Program sustainability
Sustainability Modules: Initiating and ultimately sustaining infant and early childhood mental health consultation activities involves more than just having a great program.
Infrastructure and administrative tools
Sample program manuals, memoranda of understanding, and contracts are in the library below.
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ReportArizona’s Smart Support Evaluation Report: The First Four YearsExecutive Summary ReportArkansas Project PLAY Evaluation Update 2014 GuideDesigning an IECMHC Program: Four Essential Building BlocksDesigning an IECMHC program is complicated and requires careful planning through a coordinated team of stakeholders. These two parallel resources simplify the design of IECMHC programs into four building blocks and provides guidance for how to explore each of these areas. A worksheet was created to help programs assess what has been completed and track progress. ToolkitDeveloping and Implementing a Programwide Vision for Effective Mental Health ConsultationThis in-depth guide provides guidance and support for early childhood program administrators with respect to ensuring IECMHC in implemented in coordination with a wide vision for the center. It includes specific guidance on programmatic elements of IECMHC from hiring to supporting consultants. BriefDiversity-Informed Tenets for Work with Infants, Children & FamiliesThe Diversity-Informed Tenets for Work with Infants, Children, and Families (Tenets) are guiding principles created to encourage the infant mental health (IMH) field to intentionally and mindfully engage in standards of practice that promote and strive for a just and equitable society. GuideEarly Childhood Mental Health ConsultationA monograph summarizing the May 1998 Roundtable on Mental Health Consultation Approaches for Programs/Systems Working with Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers and Their Families. This monograph broadens the discussion on mental health consultation. It presents approaches for early childhood programs, supports bringing consultation into early care and education settings, and shares how program administrators and practitioners think about promoting healthy development through consultation. GuideEarly Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) Guide: Standards, Rationale, and Guidance for the State of MarylandThis resource was developed in 2011 for the Maryland ECMH Project. An updated version is available on the CoE's Research & Evaluation page. We've included this earlier version as an example of how to structure a program manual. It includes (1) a clear set of program standards, (2) a rationale for each standard based on the current evidence base, (3) examples of self-assessment indicators for each standard, and (4) an appendix of forms that supports all aspects of IECMHC work. ToolkitEarly Childhood Mental Health Consultation: An Evaluation Tool Kit ReportEarly Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Brief Report of Adaptations in the Virtual Learning EnvironmentAppleTree Early Learning Public Charter Schools serve exclusively 3- and 4-year-olds in the District of Columbia and receive Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC). ECMHC at AppleTree has been guided by the Georgetown Model for School-Based ECMHC (Hunter et al., 2016) with consultation at AppleTree’s early learning campuses delivered at the programmatic, classroom, and individual student/family levels. ECMHC services were adapted to AppleTree’s virtual setting in March 2020 and during the 2020-2021 school year. This paper describes the core tenets of ECMHC, ECMH consultants core competencies, ECMHC adaptations in the virtual settings at AppleTree, identifies the central elements of in-person ECMHC that remained consistent during virtual learning, and presents key points for virtually adapting ECMHC. ReportEvaluation of Alameda County Behavioral Health Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Standards of Practice Training and Technical Assistance PilotAlameda County piloted standards of practice for its early childhood mental health consultants from 2016 to 2018. Within 6 months, classroom climate and children's self-regulation improved, and children's risk of expulsion went down. Consultants grew more confident over the year. ReportEvaluation of the Illinois Model of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation PilotExecutive Summary ReportExpulsion prevention: Framework for the role of infant and early childhood mental health consultation in addressing implicit biasesPeer-reviewed article abstract