early childhood Mental Health Consultation project
SPECIAL Opportunity: Parent Child Interaction Therapy Training Opportunity
The Department of Public Welfare is requesting applications from licensed outpatient psychiatric clinics to participate in a program to train therapists in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. For more information and to download the materials, click on the links below:
- Request for Application
- Application Form
- Appendix 1A - Description
- Appendix 1B - Training Guidelines
- Appendix 2- Room Requirements
- Appendix 3 - Data Collection
- PCIT PowerPoint from August 20th Webinar
- PCIT Video Clip
Introduction
Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation is designed to assist early care and education programs in meeting the social and emotional needs of children who exhibit challenging behaviors in the classroom.
Project Goals:
- Reduce the number of children expelled from early care and education settings due to behavioral issues
- Increase understanding of social and emotional development and its impact on educational success
- Link and bridge systems and services on behalf of a child, family and program
What is Early Childhood Mental Health?
Why Do We Call It Mental Health?
Early childhood mental health is synonymous with healthy social and emotional development. It is developing capacity of the child from birth to age 5 to:
- form close and secure inter-personal relationships
- experience, regulate and express emotions; and
- explore the environment and learn in the context of family, community, and cultural expectations from young children.
(Adapted from ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families)
A child may be in need of ECMH services if he or she:
- displays very little emotion
- shows no interest in sights, sounds or touch
- rejects or avoids being touched or held
- is unusually difficult to soothe or console
- is unable to comfort or calm self
- is extremely fearful or on-guard
- does not turn to familiar adults for comfort
- exhibits sudden behavior changes
ECMH Consultation services provides on-site support which may include observation, social and emotional and/or development screening, development of an individualized action plan, referral to additional community supports and are available:
- To all early learning programs participating in Keystone STARS
- For children age birth to five
- Free of charge to the early learning program
How can I access services?
Contact your Regional Key and ask to speak with an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. Or contact Michele Walsh, Early Childhood Mental Health project manager, at micwal@berksiu.org or 717-213-2063. Or complete and submit a Request for Service Form to your Regional Key.
Parent permission is necessary before the ECMH consultant will become involved. The Parent/Facility Agreement form is an agreement between the ECMH consultant, the parents, and the child care facility.
On September 1, 2009 the Early Childhood Mental Health Advisory Committee presented its recommendations to the Department of Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman. These recommendations are important steps for sustaining and advancing the momentum to improve healthy social and emotional development for Pennsylvania’s youngest citizens that began in February 2006 with the issuance of the Report of the BUILD Infant / Toddler Taskforce.
Reports & Resources
Reports
Resources
Screening in pennsylvania: ages & stages questionnaires
Importance of screening:
Screening young children is an effective, efficient way for professionals to catch problems and start treatment when it does the most good - during the crucial early years when the child's brain and body are developing so rapidly.
"Compensating for missed opportunities, such as the failure to detect early difficulties...often requires extensive intervention, if not heroic efforts, later in life." --From Neurons to Neighborhoods
Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) system has been chosen as the formal screening tool of the ECMH Consultation Project:
The tool is quick and easy to administer and score. The ASQ was designed to be completed by parents. Also this system is being used across various state and county programs, such as Early Care and Education, Early Head Start and Head Start, Early Intervention for developmental monitoring and OCYF. It has strong technical qualities:
-
concurrent validity = 84% over all agreement - compared percentage of agreement between the results of parent-completed ASQ with the results of professionally administered standardized assessments
-
sensitivity*=72% overall agreement - ability to correctly identify those children with delays
-
specificity*=86% overall agreement - ability to correctly identify typically developing children
*Given the complexity of measuring child development, the AAP considers high quality developmental screening tests to have sensitivity and specificity of 70-80%.
Ages & Stages Questionnaire System has two complementary components:
- Ages & Stages Questionnaires cover 5 developmental domains: communication, gross motor, fine motor, personal-social and problem solving
- Ages & Stages: Social Emotional focuses on social and emotional competence and the areas of: self-regulation, compliance, communication, adaptive functioning, autonomy, affect and interaction with people.
Results indicative of concern and referral for more intensive evaluation:
Cut off score vary depending on the age of the child and are included on each questionnaire. A low score on the ASQ indicates a concern, while a high score on the ASQ:SE is indicative of concern.
Example-ASQ:SE questionnaire for a 30 month old:
Used for children ages 27-32 months with cut off score of 57. Take a look at the questions; consider clustered concerns (9,10,12). What might you be thinking about this child clinically? What next steps might you take? What suggestions might you offer to a parent?
A concerning score does not necessarily mean that a child has a diagnosable condition, but may suggest the potential for something to develop if prevention/early intervention services do not occur within the context of caregiver/child relationship.
What does this statement suggest? Are you currently able to offer prevention services? How do you work within the context of caregiver-child relationship? What services currently exist for children ages 0-3 within your country?
Referrals are most often made to:
Early Intervention - CONNECT Helpline 1-800-692-7288, a county CASSP coordinator, Children's Hospital, pediatrician - goal is to expand options through systems building efforts and Service Pathways
Information about Early Intervention for Families
Information about Early Intervention for Practitioners
"Young children are capable of deep and lasting sadness, grief and disorganization in response to trauma, loss, and early personal rejection...significant parent mental health problems, substance abuse, and family violence impose heavy developmental burdens on young children."
--From Neurons to Neighborhoods
Other state happenings:
-
The Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth and Families mandate that all children who have been victims of substantiated abuse and/or neglect receive a developmental screening. The ASQ fulfills this requirement.
-
The Nurse-Family Partnership program uses the ASQ to screen enrolled children
-
Keystone STARS level 3 Quality childcare centers are required to complete an observation of the child and share the information with the parents within 45 days of enrollment. The ASQ fulfills this requirement.
Questions regarding the use of the ASQ in Pennsylvania can be directed to: Jennifer Murphy 484-955-8264 jenmur@berksiu.org
Questions about Pennsylvania's Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative and advisory committee can be directed to:
Michele Walsh 717-213-2063 micwal@berksiu.org