Infant Mental Health Summit spurs community work

Contact: Mary Stalker

Director of Communications, Research & Development

518-690-4217 ext 22

mstalker@earlycareandlearning.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

3/19/13

Infant Mental Health Summit spurs community work

(Albany, NY) Last month early childhood professionals from across the state gathered in Albany at an Infant Mental Health Summit. The event brought together a variety of professionals who work with young children and their families. The idea was to explore what could be done to stop children from falling into the cracks between service systems. Conversations were had, connections were made, and now,  new partners are working together to help young children.

The Summit, organized by Early Care & Learning Council along with the New York State Council on Children and Families, the New York State Office of Mental Health and the Bureau of Early Intervention at the New York State Department of Health, brought together mental health, early education and early intervention professionals. They were challenged to work with colleagues from their own communities and invited to apply for mini grants to fund implementation of their ideas.  

Thirty two exceptional and innovative grant proposals were submitted. With a funding limit of $17,000 only 13 could be selected. These grants are funded by the NYS Council on Children and Families and managed by the Early Care & Learning Council.

Evelyn Efinger, Infant and Toddler Project Coordinator at the Early Care & Learning Council is working with each of the grantees to track their work and evaluate the impact of their projects. “This is all very exciting,” said Efinger. “The Infant Mental Health Summit was the first step in developing a stronger network of early childhood professionals. Participants were inspired by our presenters and went back to their communities ready to act. Even with a small amount of seed money, changes can be made to improve coordination among professionals and better serve young children. We are going to able to collect and share the lessons learned from these projects. What we learn will help us better serve all children.”

The grant period runs through July but the partnerships formed are sure to spur ongoing collaborative work. The grantees are:

Westchester Community Opportunity Program     

2269 Saw Mill River Rd - Bldg #3                                    

Elmsford, NY 12401           

914-592-5600                       

$1500 grant

Project: Using a new screening tool for early childhood trauma in multiple community locations

Cattaraugus Co Dept of Community Services            

1 Leo Moss Drive, Suite 4308                                            

Olean, NY 13790                   

716-701-3315

$1000 grant

Project: Form an Infancy Leadership Circle for Cattaraugus County

                                                     

Summit Educational Resources

150 Stahl Rd                           

Getzville, NY 14610            

716-629-3437                       

$1500 grant

Project: Erie Co Infant Mental Health meetings/Infancy Leadership Circle

Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc                                    

60 Calvert Ave                       

Commack, NY 11725         

631-462-0303                       

$1500 grant

Project: Project: Form an Infancy Leadership Circle for Suffolk County

NY Center for Child Development                                   

328 East 62nd St                   

New York, NY 10065          

212-752-7575                       

$1500 grant

Project: Engage institutions of Higher Education in the NYC area in dialogue regarding cross disciplinary additions to standard professional preparation for the fields of children’s health, mental health, early education, early intervention and family support.

Bellevue Hospital/NYU School of Medicine               

462 First Ave, NB21S6       

New York, NY 10016          

212-562-3290                       

$500 grant

Project: Expansion of mental health services and therapies in response to improved referral mechanisms between Bellevue and All About Kids

Chemung County Child Care Council, Inc                     

571 St Josephs Blvd, Suite 205

Elmira, NY 14901                

607-734-3941                       

$1500 grant

Project: Using Whole Child Check up (Tompkins county model) to strengthen connection between mental health and overall health

Child Care Solutions            

6724 Thompson RD            

Syracuse, NY 13211            

315-446-1220                       

$1500 grant

Project: Create a system wide protocol for preventing expulsion from child care for behavioral concerns including a mental health “red flags” checklist

Jewish Board of Family and Children Services 

2020 Coney Island Ave  

Brooklyn, NY 11223      

718-676-4310                

$1500 grant

Project: Forge an ongoing framework for collaboration between medical providers and mental health providers in the Jewish Orthodox communities of Brooklyn

Child Care Council of Rockland, Inc

235 N Main St, Suite 11

Spring Valley, NY 10977

845-425-0009                

$1500 grant

Project: Series of training events for caregivers/ Family support providers/home visitors and reinstitute the Rockland Better Baby care Campaign/Infancy Leadership Circle

Thrive by 5                     

22 East Lake St

Skaneateles, NY 13152  

315-440-5562

$500 grant

Project: Through training, develop a closer working relationship between the major child care programs in Cayuga county and the mental health and early intervention systems    

It’s About Childhood & Family                            

2610 South Salina Street                                     

Syracuse, NY 13205       

315-807-7849                

$1500 grant

Project: Train Child care providers, Early Intervention providers and parents of Cortland county in the Nurtured Heart Approach with the goal of bringing systems together with families

Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc                       

925 Hempstead Turnpike, Suite 400                 

Franklin Square, NY 11010                                 

516-358-9250                

Project: Form an Infancy Leadership Circle for Nassau County

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Early Care & Learning Council: For more than thirty-five years, the Early Care & Learning Council has been a leading voice for early care and education in New York State.  With its statewide network of child care resource and referral agencies, the Council has successfully fought for increases in funding to support early childhood programs and for the reform of child care laws, regulations and policies to improve safety and quality in child care settings.  The Council was a founder and convener of both the Child Care that Works Campaign and Winning Beginning NY, both statewide advocacy coalitions.  The Council and partners work to increase the quality, affordability and capacity of the early care and learning field and does so through training and technical assistance, data management and advocacy initiatives. For more information, please call (518) 690-4217 or visit www.earlycareandlearning.org.

Mental Health Summit brings early childhood professionals together

(Albany, NY) Early childhood professionals from across the state gathered in Albany today.  The summit brought together several groups of professionals who work with young children in mental health, early education and early intervention. The Early Care & Learning Council along with the Council on Children and Families, the New York State Office of Mental Health and the Bureau of Early Intervention at the New York State Department of Health,  hosted the Infant Mental Health Summit at the Hotel Albany from 10am to 5pm.

The summit provided a mix of presentations and working sessions. Participants gained knowledge about infant mental health and the importance of early attachments and early experiences on brain development. They engaged with other professionals to examine the needs of young children and explore options for systems change with an emphasis on early identification and early treatment of social and emotional difficulties.

There were two featured speakers; Gilbert M. Foley, EdD and Jeff Daly, MD. Dr. Foley is professor at Yeshiva University and author of “Mental Health In Early Intervention”. Dr. Daly is the Medical Director of Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatric Services at Four Winds Hospital in Saratoga Springs, NY. His area of expertise is in pediatric psychopharmacology.

Senator Kathy Marchione attened the summit to make opening remarks. Senator Marchione said, “I am honored to speak at the Infant Mental Health Summit. Children’s health is something that concerns us all. This summit brings together professionals from the fields of early childhood, health care and special education.  I am excited to learn from them and see what kind of collaborative work comes out of this event. So much can be accomplished when we work together.”

Also speaking at the summit are Donna Bradbury, Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Children and Families for the Office of Mental Health, Bob Frawley, Deputy Director for the Council on Children and Families, Donna Noyes, Co-Director of the Bureau of Early Intervention and Marsha Basloe, Executive Director, Early Care and Learning Council.

“We are so pleased to be a part of this Summit,” Ms Basloe said. “We need to work across all disciplines serving children in order to shape real change and meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens”

The Infant Mental Health Summit was the first step in developing a stronger network of early childhood professionals. Small community grants will be awarded for participants to continue to work towards a system that supports the social emotional development and mental health needs of all children.

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Early Care & Learning Council: For more than thirty-five years, the Early Care & Learning Council has been a leading voice for early care and education in New York State.  With its statewide network of child care resource and referral agencies, the Council has successfully fought for increases in funding to support early childhood programs and for the reform of child care laws, regulations and policies to improve safety and quality in child care settings.  The Council was a founder and convener of both the Child Care that Works Campaign and Winning Beginning NY, both statewide advocacy coalitions.  The Council and partners work to increase the quality, affordability and capacity of the early care and learning field and does so through training and technical assistance, data management and advocacy initiatives. For more information, please call (518) 690-4217 or visit www.earlycareandlearning.org. 

PITC Accomplishments Webinar

PITC (Program for Infant Toddler Care) Project

 at Early Care & Learning Council Wraps Up October 31st!

The NYS Office of Children and Family Services funded Intensive PITC Training of Trainers institutes with federal ARRA stimulus funds in 2010 and 2011. One hundred and thirty trainers from across the state were selected to participate. They came from Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, Early Head Start programs, higher education and other organizations. All participants signed an enrollment agreement which included follow through on the trainer certification process through West Ed.  The Infant Toddler Project at the Early Care and Learning Council managed this training project to create a growing body of infant/family professionals in New York State. The project is coming to a close and we want to share all that the PITC Project has been accomplished.

Save the Date!

NYS PITC Accomplishments Webinar

Thursday, November 8^th from 3-4 pm

Please join us for this celebratory webinar to learn about the outcomes of the PITC training initiative in NY.  Presenters will include staff at Early Care & Learning Council and Office of Children and Family Services. 
Topics will include:

*What is PITC?                                      *Who was trained?

*How can I access a PITC trainer?                  *Accomplishments to date

*How does PITC fit with the new standards for NYS?

Reserve your NYS PITC Accomplishments Webinar spot now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/954583314

For more information, contact:

Evelyn Efinger, Infant Toddler Coordinator eefinger@earlycareandlearning.org

Q Diamond, Project Associate    qdiamond@earlycareandlearning.org

NYS Campaign for Continuity

Imagine moving to new house and having to make new friends every six months. 

Imagine getting a new supervisor every 6 months with different methods and expectations. 

How would this rattle your comfort zone? 

This is what life can be like for infants and toddlers moving through a child care program. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Today, the Early Care & Learning Council’s Infant and Toddler Project will kick off the NYSCampaignforContinuity, a statewide campaign to promote continuity of care for babies and toddlers in child care centers.  Continuity of care is a child care program policy that supports the idea that children should have one caregiver from the time they enroll in a child care program until they are ready for preschool.  Stable and responsive relationships with parents and primary caregivers are critical for the development of babies and toddlers. 85% of brain development occurs before the age of 3. When infants and toddlers repeatedly age out of their child care groups and move on to different rooms with different caregivers, it can disrupt their social emotional development.  Continuity of care allows children to have close caring relationships, a sense of security and trust and the confidence to explore and learn.

Evelyn Efinger, Infant and Toddler Coordinator at the Early Care & Learning Council, will introduce the campaign today at an Infant and Toddler Leadership Forum at the NYS Association for the Education of Young Children Conference in Buffalo. Campaign messages and materials will be distributed statewide by the NYS Infant and Toddler Resource Network, a network of Infant and Toddler Specialists located in the Child Care Resource & Referral agencies across the state.  

Practicing continuity of care has been challenging for child care programs in the past. The child care regulations in New York State support the traditional method of center based care where children move up through the rooms as they age. This year the state will be adding supportive language to the new child care regulations to be released later this year.

Efinger said, “Continuity of care is not a new concept but we are taking a new approach to helping child care programs implement better policies for babies and toddlers. Later this year, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services will be adding language to the child care regulations to encourage programs to practice continuity. This campaign is a renewed effort to elevate the discussion and look at infant care through the eyes of the baby. We know the ingredients of high quality child care for our youngest children. And now we must work together to implement best practice.” said Evelyn Efinger, Infant and Toddler Coordinator at the Early Care & Learning Council.

During infancy, children are learning about the world and about themselves. They are focused on security, exploration and identity formation. Developing these competencies is easier when babies are cared for by a responsive adult who knows them well and can interpret their cues.

To learn more about Continuity of Care visit www.earlycareandlearning.org/continuity.cfm

or contact Evelyn Efinger at eefinger@earlycareandlearning.org