Increasing numbers of young children are now routinely screened for developmental delays during well-child visits in primary care settings which support early identification of developmental delays. Unfortunately, research indicates that there is often a gap between the number of children who receive an abnormal screen and the number who…

This article describes the Building Early Links for Learning (BELL) initiative in Philadelphia, PA. BELL looks to promote resilience in young children staying in emergency housing for homeless families. The goal is to make the settings more responsive and supportive to children's developmental needs as they adapt to experiences of homelessness and…

Building professional relationships and collaboration are key components to providing effective quality services to infants, toddlers and families involved in the child welfare system. However, it seems many programs and systems continue to work independently of each other, perhaps to the detriment of our most vulnerable children and families.…

Families are diverse, and so are children's needs. For children in the child welfare system, there are many layers of regulations that serve to protect the family and child. These regulations can be challenging to navigate when a child is referred to early intervention services. The authors describe how their coordination team collaborated with…

The Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) is a community engagement and systems-change approach focused on improving how courts, child welfare agencies, and related child-serving organizations work together, share information, and expedite services for young children in the child welfare system. Ten sites across four states received technical assistance…

Structural racism in the United States through federal and state legislation and public policies has systematically disadvantaged families of color leading to societal inequities and generations of families living in poverty. Further, racist ideas have led to the exclusion of families of color from systems of support that could prevent involvement…

This article describes some of the remarkable accomplishments of the states that have participated in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Financing Policy Project (IECMH-FPP). The purpose of the IECMH-FPP is to support states' advancement of IECMH assessment, diagnosis, and treatment policies that will contribute to the healthy…

The Tennessee First Five Training Institute (TFFTI) is a workforce development project to build infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) capacity across Tennessee's community mental health agencies. TFFTI focused on foundational trainings in IECMH concepts, training in child-parent psychotherapy, dyadic, trauma treatment for children birth…

This article describes the ongoing impact of one Early Head Start grantee's participation in a statewide initiative to connect the state's network of residential substance abuse treatment programs for women and their children with their local Early Head Start program. The initiative was designed to enhance child development and parenting supports…

This article explores the following questions: What are licensed family child care providers' perspectives on the benefits and challenges of partnering with an agency to deliver Early Head Start (EHS) services? And, what recommendations do they have regarding establishing and maintaining a successful partnership? The authors share qualitative data…

This article defines the concept of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) and describes how it provides the foundation for lifelong health and well-being. The authors provide policy recommendations that include the need to: (a) establish cross-agency leadership for IECMH, (b) ensure Medicaid payment for IECMH services, (c) invest in…

The Baby Leadership Learning Collaborative (Baby LLC) initiative is a leadership group committed to bridging relationships across service sectors to promote infant-early childhood mental health and to break the multigenerational cycle of risk often associated with early adversity and trauma. Baby LLC has guided an early relational health focus…

Universal screening and referral are crucial for maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs to improve maternal, infant, and early childhood outcomes. The purpose of this article is to describe a county-wide, centralized intake and referral system. The authors report results and lessons learned for reducing service duplication…

Collaboration between university researchers and community agencies offers the opportunity to pilot innovative, evidence-informed interventions. Partnerships of this nature also present unique ethical dilemmas to community agencies, particularly regarding research and agency policies, navigating privacy protections, adequate and consistent…

This article focuses on a disability culture-based organization's process of addressing baby care adaptation issues of parents with physical disabilities and their babies and toddlers. The author describes the role of teamwork between infant mental health specialists and occupational therapists, application in custody situations, and public policy…