Monthly Early Childhood Conference Call Series
December 7, 2006

Participating:

Ginny Stack and Frank Pace, Rhode Island; Terri Reighard and Frances Duran, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Pauline Tracy, Kathryn Shea, Cindy Gates and Ilene Berson, Sarasota, Florida; Myra Alfreds, Westchester, New York; Fran Goldfarb, Los Angeles, California, Claudia Zundel, Colorado; Princess Katana, Austin, Texas; Isadora Hare, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, HRSA; Susan Stromberg and Michele Herman, CAFB; Neal Horen, Georgetown, NATC; Sheryl Schrepf, Lorrin Gehring and Ken Martinez, Technical Assistance Partnership.

Rhode Island:

Strengths

1. Robust engagement at this early stage from the early childhood community; and two earlier SOC grants;
2. Some "spontaneous" early childhood work newly developed within our larger CASSP system.

Challenges

1. Robust engagement from the early childhood community, and confusion around systems
2. The diagnosis question especially in the B-3
3. Will PBIS be used for all children or will we use the IYS or Successful Start
   

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania:

Strengths

Community engagement process in planning, development and implementation; community development specialists; community involvement in hiring process; the governance structure uses an existing community entity, the Local Agency Coordinating Council that has a similar mission; existing infrastructure from previous SOC grants

Peer support issues

Children in CYF - How will communities follow children as they move between foster homes?  How is CYF participating in the SOC process? How are communities blending SOC values into the culture of CYF?

Workforce Development - What strategies are communities finding to be effective in engaging providers in training around early childhood mental health, DC:0-3, Evidence Based Practices?  How are communities measuring practice change as a result of trainings?

Discussion included:

• DC 0-3 is most helpful, in part because diagnosis “goes away” at age 5. The use of the “Public Health Triangle” is also very helpful;
• Partnering with the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants is critical; Other partnerships should include the Promoting Safe and Stable Families in child welfare and the Family to Family Initiative by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (values match with system of care);
• Some communities are using a community organizational model which has proven effective;
• Training of Trainers (TOT) model that is open to all systems is most helpful for early childhood training;
• Colorado has established the Office of Workforce Development;
• Florida sees the system of care education and training as a 5-6 year process which is why they developed a Level System for training that first includes overview training for the community; then training for providers; and finally clinical training for providers;
• Sarasota uses the DC 0-3 Crosswalk that they developed and as of today 22 providers are being reimbursed by Medicaid using the Crosswalk. Other states are also using a crosswalk including Minnesota, Maine, Arizona and Vermont.
• The issue of diagnosis was discussed as a dilemma. Both points of view were articulated. There will be a Special Forum at the Atlanta National Meeting that will focus on the dilemma posed by the diagnosing of young children;
• It was suggested that we find out the diagnoses that are being given to children by age. This will be pursued with the National Evaluation Team.
• Isadora Hare, MCHB, reported that 6 states ( Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Pennsylvania) have been awarded grants by MCHB that focus the effects of post-partum depression and other mental health disorders on the mother/child dyad. There are other grants that have been awarded to 10 states to conduct a public awareness campaign on post-partum depression; It was suggested that system of care communities in those states collaborate with the MCHB grantees.
• Eligibility criteria and the use of a weighting system were discussed. Colorado and Allegheny County explained their eligibility criteria. Allegheny County uses an algorithm that incorporates a weighting system and the CANS instrument. This issue can be further discussed in a listserv discussion so that sites can learn from one another.
• Details for the eligibility call will be determined and posted on the listserv.

The call-in information for all of our monthly calls is:
Number: 1-877-326-2337, ID Number: 4294308#