Vermont’s Early Childhood &

Family Mental Health Competencies

A story of Integration & Collaboration

How can they help me?

The Field of Early Childhood and Family Mental Health

ages birth to 8

• A solid social/emotional foundation in early childhood.

• Supporting secure relationships between children, parents and caregivers.

• Addressing mental health issues of young children in the context of where they live and play.

• Knowledge and skills embedded in many disciplines.

Partners in the work

Shared Agenda Task Force and Workgroup

VT state-wide Early Childhood Career Development CenterVT State Departments of Education and Mental Health, State and local Mental Health AgenciesVT Department for Children and Families Policy makers – Federal and state levels

More Partners…

Parents and advocates

Early childhood special educators & interventionists

Head Start

Early care and education providers

Specialists in related fields

Mental health clinicians

Higher Education Institutions

Background1997-2003 SAMSHA Children’s

Upstream Services (CUPS) 6 year grant

Regional Early Childhood Mental Health ConsultantsCUPS Learning Team

Identified knowledge and practices that promote young children’s social and emotional development

Provided extensive in-service learning opportunities in early childhood and family mental health.

More Background

2002-2007Regional Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants supported with state fundingShared Agenda work developed Early Childhood Mental Health Competencies

2007-presentECFMH Competencies distributed Presentations on uses of CompetenciesIntegrate Competencies into Professional Development systemSurvey need for ECFMH Credential

Use of the CompetenciesTo assess the learning needs of adult students, employees, or teams,

To evaluate and develop curricula,

As a tool for supervision and mentoring

Incorporation into licensing and credentialing systems for early care and education providers

And WHO would use them?

• Educators• Therapists• Childcare Providers • Health Care Providers• Early Interventionists• Social Workers• Child Welfare Workers• Home Visitors• Special Educators• Paraprofessionals• …and others

ECFMH Competencies: STRUCTURE

Six Domains

Addressing Challenges

Philosophy & Professional Development

Addressing Challenges

Child Development

Family Systems

Assessment

System Resources

•

Four Levels

SpecialistAdvancedIntermediateFoundational

Plan for the Future

If the competencies are used throughout the service delivery system, children and families will not have to reach the point of near-crisis to receive the social and emotional support and services they need.

So….By embedding these competencies within

multiple systems of professional development, trained and informed caregivers will have the capacity to recognize and address the mental health needs of young children and families.

So we…

Surveyed a) early childhood professionals and b) mental health professionals about their knowledge, skills and needs in early childhood family mental health.

Added a new partner: Children’s Integrated Services system - health, mental health and early intervention

And we…Aligned curricula in our state with the ECFMH Competencies

Identified gaps- other curricula needed to meet ECFMH competencies

Created opportunities to access more curricula aligned with the ECFMH Competencies at different Levels

Embed and Align the Competencies:

Integrated into DOE Early Childhood Special Education professional standards

Into entry-level Curriculum required of all child care staff in Vermont

Alignment with CSEFEL curricula which is embedded into the second tier in Vermont’s early childhood professional development system

and with other research-based curricula used in Vermont …

• Second Step• PCAN (Zero to Three)• Touch Points• State-wide Foster Care training• DECA• Higher Education Coursework

Rationale for a CREDENTIALHighly desirable by staff and supervisors in early childhood and home visiting programs;

Clear need for more consistent, accessible quality professional development;

Evidence that professionals with mid-level skills and experience were most interested in gaining the competencies.

Also - Competencies were embedded into Foundation Level curricula

Most standards for licensed mental health clinicians already align with Advanced and Specialist Levels of the ECFMH Competencies.

Subsequently, a need was identified to enable professionals to achieve the Intermediate Level ECFMH competencies. This need could be met by an ECFMH Credential.

Benefits of a Credential-

Increasing support for communities, families and providers to address children’s social and emotional health.

Increase consistency in mental health knowledge and skills for those working with young children and families;

And other benefits…

Addressing the high numbers of those needing early childhood and family mental health services;

Meeting the need for more training in this field;

Providing more qualified personnel across disciplines;

And finally …

Providing a means for organizations and supervisors to identify applicants’ early childhood and family mental health knowledge base;

Increasing access to job opportunities and career advancement;

Recognizing professionals who have these competencies.

The Credential will help!

What’s next?

Address the gaps in available curricula related to the ECFMH competencies

Use Dialogue Guides with our partners to promote and plan the credential

Continue to seek good ideas and feedback from other states

And also…

Work with our current partners VT mental health clinician to mentor those working on the Credential

Pilot the credential

Evaluate the results!

Share with our Community of Practice!