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Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation & Therapeutic Services

Description

In 2009-2010, First 5 Contra Costa will allocate a total of $1,160,399 to support the following programs:

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation:
The Child Care Solutions program provides mental health specialists to observe children struggling with mental health, social, emotional, and developmental problems enrolled in licensed child care. Specialists develop effective solutions for problems with parents and providers and refer children in need to early intervention services to help improve their long-term development.

Early Childhood Mental Health Therapeutic Services:
Children exhibiting or at-risk of social, emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems and their parents receive intensive therapeutic services. “Wraparound” services are provided in cases of high need or complexity, providing families with team-based support to best meet their needs. Wraparound and Mental Health Services are available at no cost for children who have Medi-Cal insurance or qualify for First 5 funding.

Results

Since 2002, 1,800 children with mental health, social, emotional and developmental problems were served by mental health specialists in licensed child care sites. Last year, the majority of children remained in their child care program or transitioned to a program more beneficial to their development.
Teachers and directors reported that their goals were met to improve classroom management, reduce the amount of time spent on one distruptive child, and improved communication with parents.
Since 2003, 850 children with severe mental health needs and their parents received specialized mental health therapuetic services. Parents served last year showed improvements in their parenting skills and their ability to respond appropriately to their child’s needs. Nearly 80% of children who exited the program remained at home with their parents or a relative.