1. Georgetown University National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health 1

2. Purpose of Today’s Call To highlight findings from Georgetown’s new study on effective early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) To hear from two of the study sites about their program models and lessons learned To explore special topics in ECMHC including: Cultural and linguistic competence Reflective supervision and support for consultants Developing a statewide ECMHC program 2

3. 3 What is Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation? “Mental health consultation in early childhood settings is a problem-solving and capacity–building intervention implemented within a collaborative relationship between a professional consultant with mental health expertise and one or more individuals with other areas of expertise - primarily child care center staff. ECMHC aims to build the capacity of staff, families, programs, and systems to prevent, identify, treat and reduce the impact of mental health problems among children from birth to age six and their families” (Cohen & Kaufmann, 2000)

4. Knowledge Gaps What are the essential components of effective mental health consultation? What are the skills, competencies, and credentials of effective consultants? What are the training, supervision, and support needs of consultants? What level of intervention intensity is needed to produce good outcomes? Which outcomes should be targeted and how should they be measured? 4

5. Georgetown’s New Study on ECMHC Purpose: Address critical knowledge gaps in the field Offer data-driven guidance to states and communities Provide a snapshot of the status of ECMHC efforts nationally Funders: Annie E. Casey Foundation The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation 5

6. Study Design Site Visits Six diverse ECMHC programs demonstrating positive child, family, staff and/or program outcomes Interviews with diverse stakeholders Data collection using standardized measures Brief Online Scan Disseminated to all states’ and territories’ Children’s Mental Health Directors and Early Childhood Comprehensive System (ECCS) Coordinators Meeting of Experts 6

7. Study Sites Child Care Expulsion Prevention (Michigan)* Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (Connecticut) Early Intervention Program/Instituto Familiar de la Raza (San Francisco, CA)* Early Intervention Project (Baltimore City, MD) Kid Connects (Boulder, CO) Together for Kids (Central Massachusetts) *Sites presenting on today’s call 7

8. Core Features of Effective ECMHC Programs 8 Solid Program Infrastructure Readiness Relationships Positive Outcomes StaffChild ProgramFamily High-Quality Services Highly- Qualified Consultants Sustainability & CQI

9. What are the skills, competencies, and credentials of effective consultants? Education/Knowledge Masters degree in a related field, e.g., social work, psychology Understanding of key content areas Skills Relationship-building Communication Able to work with infants/children in group settings Able to motivate parents/providers to try new strategies 9

10. What are the skills, competencies, and credentials of effective consultants? Attributes/Characteristics Respectful Trustworthy Open-minded/non- judgmental Reflective Approachable Good listener Compassionate Team player Flexible Patient 10

11. What are the training, supervision, and support needs of consultants? Training Program model (philosophy & processes) Early childhood mental health topics Consultation topics Mentoring/shadowing Ongoing professional development opportunities 11

12. What are the training, supervision, and support needs of consultants? Supervision Clinical and administrative supervision Reflective in nature Regular and ongoing Support One-on-one and with peers (i.e., group) Formal and informal Reflective supervision provides support and knowledge to guide decision-making, offers empathy to help supervisees explore their reaction to the work, and helps suervisees manage the stress and intensity of the work. (Parlakian, 2002) 12

13. What level of intervention intensity is needed to produce good outcomes? Variability across study sites regarding frequency and duration of services Diversity is reflective of variation in program models programs’ recognition of the individualized nature of ECMHC Additional research is needed to examine if there is a certain “dosage” of consultation that leads to positive outcomes 13

14. Which outcomes should be targeted and how should they be measured? Outcomes ECE staff ECE program Child Family Matrix of measurement tools Methodology considerations 14

15. Remaining Areas for Exploration What is the “dosage” of consultation needed for efficacy? What is the cost-benefit of ECMHC? What are the longitudinal impacts of ECMHC? What is the impact of each model component on outcomes (e.g., consultant skills, service array)? Which consultation models are most effective for certain children, families and/or settings? What are the best measurement tools for evaluating ECMHC and where is there need for development of new tools? 15

16. For More Information Contacts: Frances B. Duran, bazazf@georgetown.edubazazf@georgetown.edu Roxane K. Kaufmann, kaufmanr@georgetown.edukaufmanr@georgetown.edu Final study report will be available online Summer 2009 at: http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/ http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/ 16