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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BriefProgrammatic Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: What Is It?This brief discusses different methods of thinking about what programmatic consultation is and is not, and includes examples to support IECMHC work at this level. TemplateSample Needs AssessmentA needs assessment with stakeholders is an essential first step in designing an IECMHC program. This resource gives an overview and a template of the data you need to collect for an IECMHC needs assessment. TemplateSmart Support Logic Model ReportThe Essential Activities of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Guidance for the Field from a Consensus-Building StudyThe Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (CoE) conducted a consensus-building research study to distill the essential activities of IECMHC. The resulting list of IECMHC activities offers direction for programs and practitioners seeking to deliver equitable, high-quality consultation in any setting. Further, it provides the foundation for developing a fidelity tool to guide training, implementation, and evaluation efforts. GuideThe Georgetown Manual for School-Based Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation ServicesThis manual describes a framework to the provision of ECMHC in school settings. Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development articulated this framework for ECMHC as implemented in a pilot program in a DC charter school for Pre-K 3- and 4-year-old classrooms. ECMHC services are organized into phases and described at multiple levels: child-/family-focused, classroom-focused, and programmatic consultation. The Appendix contains foundational materials describing the GU practice-based principles for ECMHC as well as tools to gather ECMHC data on children and classrooms. This document is intended as a resource that could aid other programs in the development of their manuals, though program manuals go beyond this content to also include site-specific implementation details. GuideThe Georgetown Model of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation for School-Based Settings ReportThe San Francisco Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Initiative (ECMHCI) Evaluation: Community Experiences (2021-2022) BriefTraining and Workforce Development Activities that Prepare and Support IECMH ConsultantsDescribes a range of opportunities and approaches to MHC training, broken down by practice environments and targeted to different levels of MHC experience ReportWhat Works? A Study of Effective Early Childhood Mental Health ProgramsThis seminal reports summarizes the results of a mixed methods study that focused on six effective IECMHC programs in early care and education settings. A conceptual framework was developed which continues to influence the design of IECMHC programs nationally. GuideWhat Works? Resource CompendiumA curated list of sample materials from IEMCHC programs featured in the "What Works?" study