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Mental health consultation (MHC) is an evidence-based approach that pairs mental health professionals with people who work with young children and their families.
Explore these resources to learn about MHC, including how to choose and use a consultant and deliver effective MHC services.
Head Start program staff are required to work in partnership with families to ensure they have access to any needed mental health services. This brief is designed to: (1) provide guidance for Head Start program staff to identify mental health providers who best meet a family's needs, culture, and personality, and (2) offer ideas to overcome access barriers.
"My 1st Year" and "Discovering Feelings" Books can be used by parents, caregivers and consultants. They are designed to help adults better understand a baby's development, recognize important milestones and in helping to label a young child’s feelings.
All young children benefit when their caregivers are healthy and not too stressed or depressed. Explore practical tools to help caregivers build positive relationships with their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and reduce stress.
This tool supports parents and caregivers in understanding temperament. Discover simple best practice tips adults can use to foster the unique temperament of each child.
Explore how infant and early childhood mental health consultants can use this resource to guide their family engagement work with early childhood professionals and families.
Learn how mental health professionals help programs understand and manage young children's behaviors.
Learn how to use a problem-solving protocol to understand and manage children's behaviors. Explore an example of how the protocol is implemented in a program.
Head Start programs must use a multidisciplinary approach to support a program-wide culture that promotes children’s mental health, social and emotional well-being, and overall health and safety.
This tip sheet for families explores how mental health consultants help adults build strong relationships with children. Consultants can help families address concerns about children's social-emotional development.
Infant and early childhood mental health consultants work with the adults in children’s lives to support social-emotional development. Learn how a child care program can benefit from working with a mental health consultant.
HeadStart.gov
official website of the Administration for Children and Families
