Individual and Organizational Partner
Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Spotlight
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In honor of DECAL’s Children’s Mental Health Week, we want to acknowledge Laura Lucas, M.S., the Director of Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). Find more information about Children’s Mental Health Week in a later section.
Laura Lucas is a founding member of the Community Advisory Council of GA-AIMH. She recently became endorsed as an Infant Mental Health Mentor – Policy and is expected to earn an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Consultant certificate from Georgetown University in May 2023. Lucas is also a full-time mother to two boys, ages 7 and 12. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Alabama in Human Development and Family Studies.
Laura began working in direct services as a multisystemic in-home therapist. She learned how tough it can be as a parent, especially when supporting a child with a mental health challenge. It was also her first exposure to the systemic challenges of support services, which taught her the importance of strong partnerships and wrap-around services. She then transitioned to become the Regional Administrator of a therapeutic foster care program. In this role, she worked with complex, high-needs children. These roles opened her eyes to the need for policy change to build a system that is easier for families to navigate. This led her to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, where she served in many roles, including as the Director of Child and Adolescent State Infrastructure Grant, a project focused on improving Georgia’s child and adolescent behavioral health. READ MORE
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Individual and Organizational Partner
Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Spotlight
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Kevin Byrd M. Ed. is the Babies Can’t Wait (BCW) Director and Part C Coordinator for the Georgia Part C Lead Agency’s early intervention program known as Babies Can’t Wait. BCW is a part of the Division of Women, Children, and Nursing Services within the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). His journey to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health evolved from his career in early education.
Kevin began his career working as a Kindergarten and second-grade teacher in a public school. In this role, he noticed developmental disparities among his students and was disappointed to learn that often those children were not receiving support services. For example, he had some students who had missed major milestones or other children who had received a diagnosis, and yet, none of those children were receiving supportive services. At that moment, Kevin knew he needed to address this systemic gap by intervening earlier to support children and families. He learned about early intervention from a colleague's spouse and has been working there ever since because, as he says, “That is where I belong.” READ MORE
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Celebrate Children's Mental Health Week |
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The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is celebrating the third annual Children’s Mental Health Week this week, May 1–5!
Children develop social and emotional skills—mental health—through strong, nurturing relationships with adults. There is a window of opportunity in early childhood to establish relationships that build the foundation for a child’s emotional well-being throughout life. During Children’s Mental Health Week, we promote activities that help children and their caregivers recognize the importance of social and emotional development. We also celebrate early learning professionals and their important role supporting early childhood mental health!
We have many fun activities planned for early care and learning classrooms this week! Check out the self-care resources for teachers while you’re there.
Please share pictures of your class engaged in Children’s Mental Health Week activities on social media using #littlekidsbigfeelings and #DECALCMHWeek2023, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win self-care gift cards being provided by our partners at the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS).
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Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
The Foundation of All Future Development
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In celebration of Children's Mental Health Week, GA-AIMH and DECAL are hosting an informative session on IECMH: The Foundation of All Future Development on May 25th at 12pm. This session is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) and the Center of Excellence For Children's Behavioral Health (COE). It will provide an overview of IECMH, GA-AIMH's efforts to support professionals working with and on behalf of infants, young children, and their families, and Georgia's IECMH System of Care. We look forward to seeing you there!
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GA Social-Emotional Early Development Strategies (SEEDS) |
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This Children's Mental Health Week, GA-AIMH is promoting Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer. Did you know that repeated readings of the same book provide opportunities for preschoolers to develop a sense of competence and confidence? Reading books like Grumpy Pants is a great way to build a child's social-emotional development. They can point at and label pictures, turn pages, discuss the story, and make predictions of what will happen next while learning new words and relating the story to their own experiences. We invite you to read this book and more with your little ones this week. |
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Want to join our monthly Learn & Connect sessions?
Become a member for just $25 and join us all year!
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Curious What Families Need
from Professionals?
We're hosting a panel of Family Leaders during our May Learn & Connect! Jackie McNair, Teresa Wright-Johnson, CPSP, FPM, Deena Davis, CARES, CPS-AD, and Candice Aaron will share their insight and advice on May 18 from 12-1 pm. Join us to hear directly from field experts and ask them any of your questions.
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April: Reflective Supervision/Consultation
On April 14th, GA-AIMH members joined Kathy Brown-Bragg, MSW, LCSW, MAC, to discuss reflective supervision. They covered the purpose, core principles, and benefits of reflective supervision. She emphasized trusting relationships between supervisors and supervisees where they can have open, honest, and nonjudgemental conversations about biases and challenges. It is critical to reflect on our past and how it might affect our experiences with the families and children we serve.
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Curious if you should register as a member of GA-AIMH? |
The answer is YES! Membership is open to ALL infant, early childhood, and family-serving individuals and anyone interested in IECHMH. Still wondering if that's you? Check the list below to see who our members are.
- Behavior Specialists
- Child Welfare
- Early Childhood Educators
- Early Interventionists
- Families
- Head Start, Early Head Start
- Home Visitors
- IECMH Advocates
- Medical Providers
- Mental Health Providers
- OTs/PTs/SLPs
- Policymakers
- Students
- YOU!
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