Dear IECMH Consultant, child care provider, early child advocate, parent, colleague and friend,
Thank you!
We held our third facilitated community conversation focused on infant and early childhood mental health consultation and all of the related implications for the child care and early education workforce, and our youngest children and their families, during this unprecedented time of COVID-19 response. We were joined by 41 participants in a consultant, provider, or advocate roles across the state and region.
Join us at our next session on
Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 11 AM
(details to register below). What you will see in this message is a summary of our July discussion with links to the chat transcript broken down by theme, links to related resources and opportunities to learn about ongoing support from our team.
The July consultation conversation appropriately spanned many topics that all focused on how consultation programs and child care providers are pivoting now to continue to support children and families – and what the future will hold. Themes are all detailed in the chat below and include: Programs providing
continued support via tele to families and providers
and what classroom observations and data gathering from childcare providers and families will look like when we cannot enter classrooms due to safety restrictions. Others shared how they are working to manage and support the
collective anxiety about reopening for families and childcare providers.
The importance of the early childhood workforce to
focus on adults
(parents, caregivers, child care providers and educators) and support their stress responses during this time. Don’t under-estimate the impact of small interactions, checking in on how the adults are doing, when they are managing big and small stresses without clarity.
Related Resources:
Follow Up:
- We will be hosting weekly office hours on Wednesdays at 1 - 2 PM as a drop-in opportunity for consultants to discuss what they are seeing and what supports they need.
- We will be hosting monthly group conversations modeled after this one. The next conversation will be held on Thurs, August 13, 2020 at 11 AM. Click here to register for the upcoming conversation.
- Click here to access the webinar recording.
- Click here to view the participant chat during the conversation.
We all count ourselves incredibly lucky to support each of you in the important work you are doing during this unprecedented time to continue to support our states youngest children, and their families, childcare centers and first teachers.
Thanks!
PIEC Team
Institute for Innovation and Implementation
University of Maryland School of Social Work
