NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
ERIC Number: ED620880
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Nov
Pages: 60
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Holding Hope: Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in Early Achievers
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
Second Substitute Senate Bill 5903 (2019) directed the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to contract with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants, i.e., Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA WA), to provide statewide Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) to Early Achievers Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) participants and coaches. State general funds were allocated to hire one mental health consultant for each of the six regions. DCYF was also required to submit a report on provided services and outcomes in collaboration with CCA WA. The state investment was leveraged to access additional funding for key infrastructure needed by CCA WA to develop, implement, and evaluate this program. Private funding enabled CCA WA to hire an IECMH-C Program Director, contract The Athena Group to complete a formative evaluation during the program's initial year, and purchase foundational training for mental health consultants. Federal grant funding enabled the hiring of three additional mental health consultants. The Early Achievers IECMH-C program was developed and implemented during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this impacted the timeline and model of implementation, the program has flexed in response to provider and coach needs. It has been invaluable support during the unprecedented stressors of the past year. An interim evaluation report from The Athena Group (which is presented appendix A of this report) describes the developmental process and the activities and impacts of the program during its first seven months of implementation. This report provides a summary of key activities, information about the context within which this program is operating, and plans for scaling up the program as part of a more integrated statewide IECMH-C system.
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. e-mail: communications@dcyf.wa.gov; Web site: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF)
Identifiers - Location: Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A