IECMHC Project News — Youth Research Inc.

Project Overview - Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Using I-T CHILD

YRI Mission

Our mission is to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of New York State’s children, families, and communities.

I-T CHILD Pilot Project Purpose

The overarching purpose of this project is to support the pilot of the Infant-Toddler Climate of Healthy Interaction for Learning and Development (I-T CHILD) infant early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) in home-based licensed child-care settings. This project is an initiative of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) led by its nonprofit affiliate, YRI, to integrate evidence-informed practice into state policy.

The I-T CHILD was piloted by five nonprofit and Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) organizations located in New York State, including Adelphi, Brightside Up, the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF), the Childcare Council of Westchester, the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), and Docs for Tots. Each of the participating organizations received funding from the Robin Hood foundation to hire mental health consultants (MHCs), train them in the I-T CHILD model, and provide IECMHC services to family and group-family childcare providers.

A map of pilot project locations as they relate to child care deserts in New York State. Click here to explore the Child Care Deserts Map.

Project goals

Convene and supplement iterative implementation and evaluation of the IT-CHILD Mental Health Consultation model in New York State.
Provide actionable policy recommendations to OCFS to encourage the most equitable and cost-effective statewide rollout of IECMHC services.

Project objectives

The primary objectives of this project are to:

Pilot the usage of the I-T CHILD as a framework for IECMHC and as an assessment tool to measure social-emotional climate
Examine programmatic factors regarding hiring qualified MHCs, childcare provider recruitment, and systematic oversight of IECMHC in NYS
Work with project partners to collectively develop an evidence-informed set of best practices regarding the dosage and delivery of IECMHC
Consider what data needs to be collected regularly for programmatic oversight as NYS expands upon IECMHC services using the I-T CHILD framework

Project Partners

Robin Hood Foundation
Adelphi University
Brightside Up
Childcare Council of Westchester
Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)
Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF)
CUNY PDI
Docs for Tots
Early Care and Learning Council (ECLC)
Child Study Center
New York Office of Children and Family Services