Early Childhood
One of CHDI’s goals is to support the integration of health and mental health care into settings where young children are served.
Our initiatives in this area include:
Developing a statewide system of consultation to early care and education settings so that the health and mental health needs of children in child care settings will be identified and properly addressed by qualified consultants. CHDI played a key role in developing, supporting and evaluating Connecticut’s Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP), which provides mental health consultation to early care and education settings. ECCP is now funded through the Department of Children and Families and administered by Advanced Behavioral Health. CHDI also was instrumental in developing the medication administration training for ECE providers, and in advancing multidisciplinary training for health, mental health and education consultants.
Identifying, adopting, and implementing evidence-based and best practices in mental and behavioral health through its Connecticut Center for Effective Practice (CCEP). For more information on CCEP’s activities, click on the link above.
Promoting the integration of child health as part of the state’s efforts to improve children’s readiness for kindergarten and performance in the early elementary grades, through research, grantmaking and participation in the Early Care and Education Cabinet. The results can be seen in the Early Care and Education (ECE) Cabinet’s goals, priorities, and the Infant/Toddler plan. Click here to link to the ECE.
The Children’s Fund of Connecticut, in partnership with the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund and the Early Childhood Education Cabinet, awarded grants to eight communities in the summer of 2008 to bring health and health care providers into their broader school readiness planning efforts, which are funded through a public/private partnership between the ECE Cabinet and the Graustein Memorial Fund. CHDI is administering the grants and participates in the ECE Collaborative Management Team overseeing the broader effort. Plans are due in June 2009.
The eight communities and their plans for use of these grant funds are as follows:
The Bridgeport Alliance for Young Children will survey health providers in Bridgeport to identify needs and gaps in health services for young children. The Alliance also will hold focus groups to gather input on health issues from parents. Results will be used to frame the health agenda in the community’s early childhood plan. The Bridgeport Department of Health and Social Services is the health partner.
The Bristol Early Childhood Blueprint Planning Committee will develop a plan to improve access to dental services for children younger than five. The Committee is currently chaired by a pediatrician and proposes to expand its membership to include dental professionals identified through the Bristol Dental Society. With the help of health and dental health partners, the Committee will survey providers and hold focus groups for parents to identify barriers to early dental care. The Bristol-Burlington Health District is the identified health partner.
The East Hartford Community Planning Group will engage two health partners, East Hartford Community HealthCare Inc. and East Hartford School Based Health Center, to expand its school readiness planning to include health issues and resources. The goal will be to incorporate physical, mental, and oral health needs into the early childhood agenda by soliciting input from a variety of health professionals through surveys and focus groups.
The New Haven Early Childhood Council proposed to engage health providers to participate with parents and early childhood educators in workgroups to develop recommendations to address health problem areas identified in earlier planning efforts. The areas include: 1) care coordination and community supports, 2) access to dental services, 3) linkage of health providers to early care and education sites, and 4) improved access to well child care. The Council has identified several lead health partners, including the New Haven Health Department, Fair Haven Community Health Center, and the Hill Health Center.
The New Britain collaborative proposed to bring together several existing health initiatives and collaboratively document health service needs and gaps in services, and select performance indicators. The newly formed group will also develop strategies to improve the health of New Britain’s young children. The Hospital of Central Connecticut and the Community Health Center are the two health partners.
Norwalk Early Childhood Council, in collaboration with Norwalk Community Health Center and the Norwalk Health Department, proposed to support a “health fellow” to collect data to track implementation of four health objectives: 1) increase the number of children with a medical home, 2) increase screening for behavioral health problems at well child visits, 3) increase early utilization of dental services, and 4) strengthen obesity prevention efforts. The fellow will be employed by the Health Department and Community Health Center, both of which will contribute dollars to cover salary and fringe benefits.
The Stratford Promise Leadership Workgroup will develop an early childhood Health Risk Assessment based on an adult health risk assessment completed in 2006. The assessment will provide an inventory and evaluation of child health services in the community. The results will be used to develop programs and policies that address high need areas. The Stratford Health Department is the identified health partner.
The Windsor Community Planning Collaborative will work with the Windsor Health Department to form and support a health planning committee. The Committee will address health risks in the community’s early childhood population and identify gaps in local health resources to address issues. By the end of the funding period, the Collaborative expects to have identified health objectives, indicators and outcomes for inclusion in its school readiness plan.
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