A Focus on Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health

May 2024

Children’s Mental Health Awareness 

This newsletter focuses on sharing information on infant/early childhood mental health and the importance of relationship-based approaches and supports that help infants and young children feel safe, supported, and valued by the adults around them. The newsletter, and the Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) program, is made possible by a partnership between the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and the Pennsylvania Key.

Welcome

May is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Early childhood mental health means healthy social and emotional development in young children. It is developing capacity of a child from birth to age five 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. 

In this issue, we shine a spotlight on understanding the importance of caring for every child’s mental health and reinforce that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development. Caregivers promote and support this healthy development by being responsive in their communication and interactions, supporting positive social interactions, intentional teaching, communicating expectations and making every effort to prevent the occurrence or escalation of social emotional problems in children, identifying and working to remediate problems that surface.  

Coming in June: Social Emotional Learning Outdoors

Did You Know?

There is the Bright Start webpage to support the understanding on how to nurture a child’s mental health by supporting their social emotional development. Check out the videos and printed materials to support your own understanding and help families support healthy development at home. 

Children's Mental Health

Young Children’s Mental Health: What Is Essential? When we think of children’s health, we usually think of their physical well-being. “Are they active and fit? Do they get sick often?” Mental health is just as important as physical health. “Mental health” includes how we feel about ourselves and other people, and how we cope with life. Mental health in young children is related to their social and emotional development. Caregivers, teachers, and family members all have roles to play in fostering young children’s mental health.

3 Reasons Good Infant Mental Health Matters. Infant mental health is the optimal social, emotional, and cognitive well-being of children ages 0-3, developed by secure and stable relationships with nurturing caregivers. Learn more in the digital and printable infographic, 3 Reasons Good Infant Mental Health Matters. This infographic contains links to three short videos on Infant Mental Health.

Four Ways Culture Impacts Mental Health. Culture impacts how you view certain ideas or behaviors. And in the case of mental health, it can impact whether or not you seek help, what type of help you seek and what support you have around you.

Supporting Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers Mental Health

Tips for Professionals 3:14. Early childhood professionals play an important role in supporting children’s healthy social-emotional development. This includes actively supporting the social-emotional learning of the children in early childhood programs. It also means talking to families about the importance of social-emotional development and how to support it at home.

Promoting Young Children’s Social and Emotional Health. This article focuses on two of the most important practices: building trusting relationships and conducting intentional teaching.

7 Areas of Social-Emotional Development: What They Are and How to Support Them. This article takes a look at seven important areas and shares some practical ways that parents and caregivers can support development. 

Infant/Earl Childhood Mental Health Consultation Facts and Myths. IECMH Consultation is a free resource that supports children’s social-emotional development from birth through age 5 within early learning programs participating in Keystone STARS. Learn more as to how IECMH Consultants can support you.

Supporting School Age Mental Health

Looking After a Child or Young Person’s Mental Health. Find out how you can help a child to have good mental health, including knowing how to talk to a child about their mental health, and when to spot signs they might be struggling.

Creating a Healthy and Supportive School Environment. Policies and practices that support development of skills to improve emotional well-being can help meet students’ psychosocial needs. Creating healthy and supportive school environments strengthen students’ emotional well-being.

Supporting and Promoting Mental Health in Out- of- School Time. Out-of-school time (OST) programs foster socialization, relationships, and adaptive functioning. These programs are uniquely positioned to support and promote children’s healthy development.

Family Focus

7 Ways to Help Your Kids Develop Good Mental Health. The most important factor in helping your child develop positive mental health? The number one indicator in all of the literature around childhood mental health is the health of the parent-child relationship.

How to Nurture Your Child’s Mental Health. Good mental health is really about creating, encouraging and using everyday healthy habits – like sharing and acknowledging feelings, correcting unhealthy and unhelpful thinking, showing empathy and building resiliency.

Children and Mental Health: Is This Just a Stage? Distinguishing between challenging behaviors and emotions that are a part of normal development and those that may be cause for concern can be hard. Consider seeking help if your child’s behavior or emotions last for weeks or longer, cause distress for your child or your family, or interfere with your child’s functioning at school, at home, or with friends. 

Community Advocacy

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. “By promoting the social-emotional health of infants and young children, we have the potential to positively impact the trajectory of a child’s life”  - Kerrie Schnake

How to Talk about Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) is often misunderstood. This infographic was designed to help early childhood professionals talk about IECMH and can be used as a tool when discussing the critical importance of social and emotional development with stakeholders. 

Fact Sheet for Policymakers. Policies and programs that promote early childhood mental health help ensure a child’s success. The well-being of our youngest children is the foundation of a prosperous society.  

Mental Health Supports from the Pennsylvania Key

Office Hours

IECMH Consultation helps adults strengthen their relationships with young children and build capacity to respond to children’s social-emotional needs. IECMHC can help reduce caregiver stress, as well as increase caregivers’ reflective practice skills.

IECMH Consultants are available by appointment to provide IECMHC Virtual Office Hours consultation via telephone or video conference. IECMHC Virtual Office Hours is a short-term, collaborative, problem-solving conversation to help you find next steps for: Child Social-Emotional Concerns | Child Behavioral or Developmental Concerns Emotional Well-being of Teachers and Caregivers | Partnering with Families.

Appointments are held on the first and third Fridays of the month, or other days/times by request. Get more info.

Accessing IECMHC Services

The Pennsylvania Key has streamlined the process for Keystone STARS programs to request Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC). Child care providers can request services by using the Request for Service Form (PDF). Completed forms can be submitted via email PAIECMH@pakeys.org or faxed to 717-213-3749.

Programs and families can contact the program leadership directly at PAIECMH@pakeys.org with questions or concerns.

Accessing SACCMHC Services

With the generous support of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) the Pennsylvania Key IECMH Consultation team has expanded to include four mental Health consultants to support School Age Child Care (SACC) programs participating in Keystone STARS.  This service is primarily tele-consultation support. Click here to request support.  

Share your feedback! We'd like to hear what you think about infant early childhood mental health.

Are there resources you'd like to see? Questions you have? Tell us! Send your feedback to PAIECMH@pakeys.org.