The Institute team of Margo Candelaria, PhD, Research Associate Professor, and Co-Director of Parent, Infant, and Early Childhood; and Jenny Afkinich, PhD, Lead Research Analyst; Kate Sweeney, MSW, Co-Director of Parent, Infant, and Early Childhood; Laura Latta, MHS, Lead Research Project Coordinator; and Angelique Kane, Program Specialists have a new paper published in Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology Education that explores models for addressing preschool suspension and expulsion while promoting young children's healthy social emotional development.
This descriptive paper reviews and discusses workforce development efforts within early childhood education and early elementary settings to promote social emotional development and address challenging behaviors. The focus is on Maryland's efforts to advance the workforce and create workforce pipelines, including statewide coordination of the Pyramid Model (PM) and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) programming, the creation of new guidelines and pipelines for IECMHC service providers, with a specific focus on equity within IECMHC and PM programs statewide, an expansion of these efforts into early elementary school, and graduates and post-graduate education opportunities that focus on infant and early childhood mental health.
Citation: Candelaria, M., Afkinich, J., Sweeney, K., Latta, L., & Kane, A. (2021). Workforce Development Needs to Address Early Childhood Mental Health within the Childcare and Early School Years Setting. Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology Education, 6(2), 9–30.