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Influence of behavioral concerns and early childhood expulsions on the development of early childhood mental health consultation in Colorado
Author(s) -
Hoover Sarah D.,
Kubicek Lorraine F.,
Rosenberg Cordelia Robinson,
Zundel Claudia,
Rosenberg Steven A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.21334
Subject(s) - mental health , early childhood , toll , mental health care , early childhood education , psychology , health care , nursing , medicine , psychiatry , developmental psychology , political science , law , immunology
This article examines how the Colorado study Children With Social, Emotional and Behavioral Concerns and the Providers Who Support Them (S.D. Hoover, 2006) was used to advance a statewide agenda for early childhood mental health consultation in Colorado. The study involved a survey of licensed childcare providers throughout the state asking about the behavior of children in their care and their responses to that behavior. Exclusion of children from early care and education settings due to challenging behavior was found to be a significant problem taking a toll on families, children, and early care and education providers. Importantly, results from the survey indicated that the rate of exclusion of children from care due to challenging behavior was lower for family childcare providers who had access to mental health consultation. Recommendations are offered regarding the infrastructure needed to sustain mental health consultation capacity in early care and education settings, and related policies and practices.