Early Childhood
Mental Health
Consultation
Lessons Learned From
A Pilot Project in Arkansas
HOW DO I PROVIDE ECMH
CONSULTATION?
You’ve decided that you want to be a consultant? How to begin?
With a love for young children, a knowledge base that includes early childhood developmental theory and educational methods, and a thorough reading of this book:
Mental Health Consultation in
Child Care:
Transforming Relationships Among Directors, Staff, and Families
Kadija Johnston and Charles Brinamen.
And you can learn from the
experience of consultants who have gone before you, such as this
California program: Jewish Family and Children’s Services/Parent’s Place
and Child Care Center. Their inclusive report discusses the nuts and
bolts of consultation, from how to get started to how to evaluate your
center and the impact of your work, and includes useful evaluation
tools:
The Early Childhood Mental Health Project: Child Care Center
Consultation in Action
Brian Johns and edited by Elisa J. Rassen,
Jewish Families and Children's Services, January 2003
For a detailed discussion of ECMH consultation,
review this SAMHSA monograph, which includes
Essential Features (Section 3) and Challenges and Strategies (Section 4):
Early Childhood Mental Health
Consultation.
Cohen, E., and Kaufmann, R.
DHHS Pub. No. CMHS-SVP0151.
Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, 2005.
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/svp05-0151/sec4.asp#SectionIV