Head Start and Mental Health

Introduction for MSW Interns and

other mental health students

Objectives Develop basic understanding of the Head Start

Program and implementation of Mental Health Services Brief History Performance Standards Infant Mental Health Mental Health Consultation within Early Childhood PBIS Screening Program structure and roles And resources

History 1965- The war on poverty gives birth to

a comprehensive preschool program known as Head Start

1972-Performance Standards lie the foundation of the services to be provided by programs

Performance Standard1304.24(a) Mental Health Services(1)Grantee and delegate agencies must work collaboratively with parents by:

(i)Soliciting parental information, observation and concerns about their child’s mental health;

(ii) Sharing staff observations of their child and discussing and anticipating with parents their child’s behavior and development including separation and attachment issues;

(iii) Discussing and identifying with parents appropriate responses to their child’s behaviors;

(iv) Discussing how to strengthen nurturing, supportive environments and relationships in the home and at the program;

(v) Helping parents better understand mental health issues;

(vi) Supporting parents’ participation in any needed mental health interventions.

1304.24 (cont.)(2) Grantee and delegate agencies must secure the services of mental health professionals on a schedule of sufficient frequency to enable the timely and effective identification and intervention in family and staff concerns about a child’s mental health; and

(3) Mental health program services must include a regular schedule of on-site mental health consultation involving the mental health professional, program staff, and parents on how to:

(i) design and implement program practices responsive to the identified behavioral and mental health concerns of an individual child or group of children

(ii) Promote children’s mental wellness by providing group an individual staff and parent education on mental health issues

(iii) assist in providing special help for children with atypical behavior or development and

(iv) utilize other community mental health resources needed.

What is Infant Mental Health?Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health• Capacity to experience, regulate and express emotions;• Form close and secure interpersonal relationships; and• Explore the environment and learn.

Synonymous with healthy social and emotional development.

What is 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. Early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) aims to build the capacity (improve the ability) of staff, families, programs, and systems to prevent, identify, treat and reduce the impact of mental health problems among children birth to age 6 and their families." (Cohen & Kaufmann, 2000, p.4)

now also emphasizes collaboration with families as well as staff

Positive Outcomes of ECMHC Reducing problematic behavior in young

children; Increasing young children's social skills; Decreasing expulsions from ECE settings; Building behavior and classroom

management skills of ECE providers; Enhancing parent ability to manage

problem behaviors; and Reducing turnover in ECE staff.

Values that are commonly associated with an effective approach to children's mental health services, including ECMHC, are: All young children deserve to spend their days in a safe, stable,

caring, and nurturing environment. A safe, stable, caring and nurturing environment is crucial to

promoting healthy social and emotional growth and resiliency to protect young children from psychological harm, and to create caring conditions conducive to appropriate social and emotional well being.

The quality of the child's many relationships with parents and other important people in their life is critical to positive social and emotional development.

The mental health of a child's parents and caregivers is important in meeting the mental health needs of very young children.

Families are considered to be full participants in all aspects of design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and services for their young children.

Early childhood mental health services are responsive to the cultural, racial, and ethnic differences of the populations that they serve.

Practices build on, promote, and enhance the strengths of the individual, the family, and early care and education staff (Hepburn and Kaufmann, 2005).

Consultative StrategiesRole is not to “fix” or do for families or staff

Educate Collaborate Support implementing strategies Provide Emotional Support Facilitate referrals

These are ALL relationship based!

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Tutorials: Tutorial 1: Strengthening Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in He

ad Start and Early Head Start Programs

Tutorial 2: Defining Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and the Consultant Role

Tutorial 3: The Effective Mental Health Consultant Tutorial 4: Mastering the Consultative Stance Tutorial 5: Partnering with Families in Early Childhood Mental Health Consu

ltation

Tutorial 6: Recognizing and Supporting the Social and Emotional Health of Young Children Birth to Age Five

Tutorial 7: Recognizing and Addressing Trauma in Infants, Young Children, and their Families

Tutorial 8: Developing a Vision and Strategic Planning for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Services

Tutorial 9: Implementing and Evaluating ECMHC Services Tutorial 10: Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Early Childhood Mental

Health Consultation

www.ecmhc.org

PBIS: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Tiered system that supports children’s social emotional development and success

Teaching Pyramid PBIS is based on a hierarchy of needs and

interventions as outlined by the Teaching Pyramid from the Center on the Social Emotional Interventions for Early Learning (CSEFEL).

Nurturing and Responsive Relationships and High Quality Supportive Environments.

Targeted Social Emotional Supports. Intensive Interventions.

Program Wide PBIS Three universal rules

Be Safe Be Kind Be Careful with our Things

Monitored system through Mental Health Team to ensure fidelity

Ongoing training and supports Resources available include books,

posters, mascots

Mascots Rocky the Raccoon was created during the PBIS initiative

in Rockingham County Head Start. He has become the mascot in the classrooms representing the PBIS program. Staff refer to the 3 classroom expectations as Rocky’s Rules. Each classroom has a Raccoon puppet that is about 3 feet long. He acts as a visual reminder. Some classrooms integrate him into classroom photos.

Tucker is a turtle from the book Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think. The classrooms have a hand sized puppet of Tucker to use with the book or keep in the alone zone as a reminder of the steps to calm down. There are visuals used in the classroom such as the 4 step poster.

Bumble the Bee is the PBIS mascot in Hillsboro county. Classrooms have the finger puppet to utilize in the classroom. The classroom expectations have been termed the 3 Bee Rules (Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Careful with our Things). The visuals of the rules or associated with PBIS have typically included bee images.

Screening1304.20 (b)(1) Screening for developmental, sensory, and behavioral concerns.In collaboration with each child’s parent, and within 45 calendar days of the child’s entry into the program, the program must obtain linguistically and age appropriate screening procedures to identify concerns regarding a child’s developmental, sensory, behavioral, motor, language, social, cognitive, perceptual, and emotional skills. Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional

ASQ:SE addresses seven social-emotional areas: self-regulation, compliance, communication, adaptive behaviors, autonomy, affect, and interaction with people

Screening tool for 3 to 66 months of age Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3

ASQ-3is a reliable tool for screening infants and young children for developmental delays during the crucial first 5 years of life

developmental screening tool for children 1 month to 66 months

Program OptionsHead Start (3-5 years) Part-Day Head Start

Part-day program 3 ½ to 4 hours September to June

Full-Day Head Start Centers open 7am to 5pm to

accommodate working parents Full Year

Program OptionsEarly Head Start (prenatal to 3 years)

Home Based Weekly home visit with home visitor

Center Based Full Day, Full Year program for working

parents

Roles Center Director

Has responsibility for daily operations of center(s) Supervises staff within center(s)

Teacher Early Childhood Education Degree staff administers Head Start components in a classroom

through lesson plans, screening, assessment, etc. Co-teacher model with 2-3 teachers per classroom

Family Worker Typically holds a degree in psychology or human service Maintains communication with families in 1 or 2 classrooms

(up to 36 families) Acts as a resource for all parenting related issues Liaison between families and teachers Maintains child’s file

Roles Home Visitor

Early Childhood Education Working in a family coaching style to promote child

development in the home Responsible for family worker tasks as well

Assistant Teachers Early Childhood Education credits or degree Support classrooms through direct interactions and

maintaining routines Are not responsible for documentation on a regular

basis Float

Management Structure Child Development Director

Supervises Content Specialists and oversees the Head Start and Early Head Start program (and Child Care Resource and Referral)

Operations Manager Supervises Center Directors Works in collaboration with the Child

Development Director to oversee the function of the program

Fiscal and Administrative Support Specialist Supervises Billing Clerk

Specialists Health and Nutrition Specialist

Registered Dietician Responsible for promoting and implementation of

Health and Nutrition Content Supervises the Health Coordinator and Food Service

Coordinator Early Childhood Specialists

Responsible for promoting and implementation of Education and Disability Content

Hiring, training, and technical support for teaching staff

Support for children with disabilities including tracking IFSP and IEP and supporting staff

Specialists Family Service Specialist

Responsible for promoting and implementation of Family Service Content

Supervises Bilingual Support Specialist and ERSEA Coordinator

Hiring, training, and technical support for family service staff

Family Engagement Specialist Responsible for promoting and implementation of Family

Engagement Content Supports program initiatives to increase family

engagement (Good Guys, Read-s-thons, etc.) Monitors In-Kind

Mental Health Content Specialist Social Emotional Support Specialist

Responsible for promoting and implementation of Mental Health Content

Provides Mental Health Consultation to families and staff

Licensed Social Worker Responsible for promoting and implementation of Mental

Health Content Provides Mental Health Consultation to families and staff Supervises MSW interns Meets the HS performance standard for Mental Health

Professional

Resourceshttp://snhschilddevelopment.weebly.comProgram website for staff www.csefel.vanderbilt.eduThe Center on the Social Emotional Foundation for Early Learningwww.ecmhc.orgEarly Childhood Mental Health Consultationwww.challengingbehavior.org Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI)www.zerotothree.org ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and the know-how to nurture early development.http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov Office of Head StartAn Office of the Administration for Children and FamiliesEarly Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center

Questions?