Title: Promise and Opportunity: National Trends in Infant Mental Health
1Promise and Opportunity National Trends in
Infant Mental Health
- Cindy Oser, R.N., M.S.
- Director, ZERO TO THREE Western Office
- Los Angeles California
- September 8, 2006
- Texas Association for Infant Mental Health
- Annual Meeting and Conference
2For nearly 30 years The Nations Leading
Resource on the First Three Years of Life
3Our Mission and Goals
To support the healthy development and well being
of infants, toddlers and their families.
Mission
- Develop Knowledge
- Raise Public Awareness
- Build and Prepare Community of Professionals
- Build Better Web of Support
- Inform and Support Parents
Goals
- Parents
- Professionals
- Public
Target
Inform, Educate and Support
4Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health
- Capacity to experience, regulate and express
emotions - Form close and secure interpersonal
relationships and - Explore the environment and learn.
- Synonymous with healthy social and emotional
development.
5What is social and emotional development?
- Capacity to identify our own feelings
- Development of empathy
- Ability to constructively manage strong emotions
6Continuum of Services
- Promotion of mental wellness
- Prevention of mental health disturbances
- Treatment for mental health problems
7Learning Begins at Birth
- Science is confirming what some parents
intuitively know - Children who feel secure, confident and have
self-control are better prepared for school - Children with strong, positive relationships with
their most important caregivers do better both in
school and in developing healthy relationships as
they grow
Babies whose hearts are nurtured as carefully as
their bodies and minds are more likely to become
well-adjusted children and successful adults
Social and Emotional Development Shapes the Future
8Trends Affecting Infants and Toddlers
- Federal
- Disaster relief
- War in Iraq
- National
- Emphasis on Universal Pre-Kindergarten.
- Of the nations ten largest foundations, none
mention early childhood as a priority area. - Increased emphasis on cognitive development and
academic learning standards. - State and Regional
- Greater interest in early years of development
(including prenatal). - Concern re measuring child outcomes.
- Development of Early Learning Guidelines.
- Increasing interest in prenatal and early
childhood mental - health.
9The Early Childhood Landscape
- Home Visiting (37 states)
- Universal Pre-K (39 states with Pre-K programs)
- IMH Associations (19 states)
- IMH Credentialing
- Child Development in Primary Health Care
- Family Leave (1 state)
- Birth 5 Systems Efforts (BUILD initiative,
Better Baby Care, Court Teams, SAMHSA grants,
etc.) - Child Care Quality Rating Systems (12 states)
- Early Learning Standards (27 states)
10Federal Opportunities/Promises
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) reauthorization and regulations - Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003
(CAPTA amendments) - Head Start reauthorization
- Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
- Disaster Relief
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Act
(SAMSHA) reauthorization - Home Visiting legislation
-
11New Research
- Survival Strategies Low Income Immigrant
Parents of Infants - (Hirokazu Hoshikawa, NY University)
- Cultural Pathways Through Human Development
- (Carrie Rothstein-Fisch, Cal State Northridge and
Patricia Greenfield, UCLA) - How Children Manage Stress
- (Megan Gunner, University of Minneapolis)
-
12Barriers for Families and Practitioners
- Reluctance to seek MH services (STIGMA)
- Lack of family support, especially for parental
mental illness - Lack financing strategies
- Lack of skilled providers and lack of training
available - Lack awareness that MH is an issue for young
children and families.
13System Challenges
- Cross-system issues (child care, Head Start,
education, health care, child welfare, justice
system, others) - Cross-system Coordination esp. young children
- Poor communication and understanding of needs
- Pediatricians ability to identify and treat
children with emotion disturbance - Educators, child care providers dont know what
to look for - Parents understand the importance but not how to
recognize or what to do to promote
social-emotional development
14Inaction is making the problem worse.
- Many children in out-of-home care
- Much care NOT of high quality
- Many children in foster care, with multiple
placements -Infants are the fastest growing and
single largest cohort in foster care. - Achievement gap ignoring the link between
academic achievement and social-emotional
development - Very young children are being expelled from child
care and preschool for behavior problems. - Mental health of parents can affect development
of young
15- "We can't solve problems by using the same kind
of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein
16Where are the opportunities for
- Engaging families
- Creating partnerships
- Observing and screening for social-emotional
development and prenatal/maternal depression - Cross-training and specialty training
- Providing specific intensive I/F/ECMH services
- Using evidence-based and promising models
- Advocacy and policy change
17Promise in I/F/ECMH
- Growing focus on social-emotional development (in
health and early learning) - Increase in state IMH associations
- More states seeking IMH credentialing
- IMH state strategic plans
- Birth-5 systems initiatives
- Interest in prenatal/parental mental health
18Opportunity to do more
- Prevention and promotion how to support
parenting, other caregivers, and social-emotional
wellness - Begin in the pre-natal period
- Refining assessment, intervention and treatment
models - Improving practice (reflective supervision,
consultation, early identification)
19I/F/ECMH holds great promise . . .
- Be active and informed!
- Join the ZTT Policy Network and Insider
-
- Use the TAIMH as a way to form new partnerships,
communicate messages, build capacity - Promote approaches that
- Protect and strengthen families
- Improve parent-child relationships
- Promote social-emotional development
20Contact Information
- ZERO TO THREE
- 2000 M Street, N.W., Suite 200
- Washington, D.C. 20036
- 202-638-1144
- ZERO TO THREE Western Office
- 350 South Bixel Street, Suite 150
- Los Angeles, CA 90017
- 213-481-7279
- For publications only 1-800-899-4301
- www.zerotothree.org
21Resources
- National Research Council and Institute of
Medicine (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods
The science of early childhood development.
Washington, DC National Academy Press. - Onunaku, N. (2005) Improving maternal and infant
mental health focus on maternal depression. Los
Angeles, CA National Center for Infant and Early
Childhood Health Policy at UCLA. Available at
www.zerotothree.org/policy - Rosman, E., Perry, D. Hepburn, K. (2005) The
best beginning partnerships between primary
health care and mental health and substance abuse
services for young children and their families.
Washington, DC Georgetown University National
TA Center for Childrens Mental Health.
Available at http//gucchd.georgetown.edu/files/pr
oducts_publications/TACenter/bestbeginfinal.pdfse
arch22the20best20beginning22 - Zeanah, P., Stafford, B., Zeanah, C. (2005)
Clinical interventions to enhance infant mental
health a selective review. National Center for
Infant and Early Childhood Health Policy at UCLA.
Available at www.healthychild.ucla.edu
22Resources (cont.)
- http//www.zerotothree.org National organization
with information for parents, professionals and
policymakers. See the Policy Center site for
policy briefs see infant mental health topical
section for professional resources. - www.nashp.org Tools, papers and information on
the Assuring Better Care and Development (ABCD)
Projects. - www.ideainfanttoddler.org IMH Approaches and
Part C paper - www.promisingpractices.net
- www.evidencebasedpractices.org
- http//modelprograms.samhsa.gov
- www.ehsnrc.org