Montana’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Pilot Program Approach and Partners
Collaborating to build a stronger early childhood supporting system
History of IECMH in Montana
Strong collaborative partnerships among state-level leaders of programs like Home Visiting and Early Head Start, county public health department staff, child care providers, advocacy non-profit organizations and other sectors are critical to the IECMH continuum. Relationships are the hallmark of the IECMH philosophy.
Since Head Start expanded its mental health consultation standards in 1998, Montana’s commitment to IECMH has steadily grown. With the award of the federal LAUNCH grant in 2014, Montana was able to expand IECMH efforts into home visiting and pediatric settings, focusing on Gallatin and Park Counties. By 2017, the work had extended to early care and education settings, supported by a statewide workgroup and technical assistance.
When the LAUNCH initiative concluded in 2019, Montana maintained its momentum by investing in workforce development and appointing the state’s first IECMH coordinator. Loveland Consulting was also hired and submitted a report on “Findings and Recommendations for a Statewide Infant and Toddler Mental Health Framework with a focus on Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation” in 2023.
Pilot Program Approach
In 2023, DPHHS partnered with Mountain Pacific and the University of Montana to create a workforce of IECMH professionals to support child care providers in Montana. A two-year pilot program launched to create a statewide IECMH hub to provide a foundation for growth, sustainability and meaningful impact to advance IECMH efforts.
For the IECMH pilot to begin subject matter experts, the University of Montana Center for Children, Workforce and Families, Mountain Pacific and other partners worked to develop a Montana-specific IECMH consultation training course for Montana IECMH consultation certification. Simultaneously an initial IECMH model policy was being developed for the pilot implementation.
Beginning with mental health professionals already certified IECMH consultants through Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development’s Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and early childhood professional care and education providers, recruitment for participants began once the implementation model was in place. Early childhood education and child care sites were then matched with IECMH consultants for an initial period of twelve weeks.
Once the first group of mental health professionals completed the Montana-specific IECMH consultation course and certification process through the University of Montana, interested parties were then contracted to work as additional consultants to be matched with child care sites. Using this model group, partners in the program were able to continuously evaluate procedures and program impact to further hone the implementation of Montana’s IECMH consultation.
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) Early Childhood Services
Montana DPHHS is dedicated to serving Montanans in their communities to improve health, safety, well-being and empower independence. Within DPHHS, Early Childhood Services’ mission is to improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of early care and education in Montana, with focused efforts on coordinated systems to best meet the needs of young children, their families and the professionals who work on behalf of young children and families.
The outcomes associated with IECMH consultation align with the mission of the DPHHS Early Childhood Services, allowing DPHHS’s support of the Montana IECMH pilot program providing funding and a support structure.
Bright Futures, Birth to Five
The State of Montana received the PDG B-5 Renewal Grant of $24 million over three years, 2023-2025. The grant serves as an exciting funding opportunity through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education to support the Bright Futures B-5 Project in Montana. The focus of the grant is building the early childhood system birth through age 5. The PDG B-5 Grant funds the IECMH work that DPHHS has contracted with Mountain Pacific to conduct. Click here to learn more.
Mountain Pacific
Mountain Pacific’s mission is to partner within our communities to provide solutions for better health and the vision is to be a recognized leader for driving innovation in health care.
Mountain Pacific was tasked with implementing a pilot program of a Montana IECMH consultation model for child care and early childhood education sites aimed at child care workforce retention and burnout prevention. Leading the coordination and collaboration of behavioral health professionals, IECMH consultants and early education and child care providers to create a working model to fit Montana’s needs.
University of Montana Center for Children, Families, and Workforce
The University of Montana’s Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development works to improve the mental, physical and emotional health of Montanans through the three focus areas of workforce development and training, research and evaluation and capacity building and technical assistance. This is achieved through partnerships with agencies, nonprofits, professionals, caregivers, youth and other community partners on projects to increase workforce effectiveness and transform systems.
For the Montana IECMH pilot program, the University of Montana Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development partnered with Mountain Pacific and Montana DPHHS to create a Montana-specific certification model for consultation taking into account the unique needs of care givers and young children living in the state. They worked to develop and implement the certification process for mental health consultants and reflective consultants with the guidance of subject matter experts. Click here to learn more.
Raise Montana
The mission of Raise Montana is to support member organizations, advance the early childhood profession and improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of child care. Raise Montana advocates for the early childhood education system, initiates projects supporting professionals in positions that support early childhood programs and services and educate policymakers, businesses and communities on early childhood issues.
A critical partner in building the Montana IECMH pilot program, Raise Montana provides the link between Mountain Pacific and child care providers in Montana. Using Raise Montana as an intermediary helped in recruiting child care providers to participate in IECMH consultation, connecting Mountain Pacific with other stakeholder in early childhood advocacy and organized and hosted a community of practice (CoP) for child care providers.
IECMH Consultant Collective
The Collective exists to increase access between early childhood-focused organizations and experts in the field and move the IECMH vision of change forward through flexible and innovative staffing and support.
As a partner in Montana’s IECMH initiative, the Collective provides strategic support along with subject matter experts to assist in the successful development and sustainability of Montana’s IECMH programming.
Contact us to learn more.
Interested in the Advisory Council, workgroups or other ways to partner? Let’s talk!