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Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

No cuts to funding for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services

As a baby grows through infancy, toddlerhood and the preschool years, healthy, nurturing relationships with parents and caregivers lay the foundation for all future social and emotional development, also known as infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). In the first five years, a child’s brain develops more rapidly than at any other point, offering a critical window to keep babies on the best developmental track. Young children can – and do – experience serious mental health conditions caused by trauma, neglect, biological factors, or environmental stressors, which threaten their development. By supporting babies and parents who are at risk of mental health challenges, we can promote strong mental health from the beginning.

Take Action

Urge your policymakers not to cut the funding and systems that support babies’ mental health, and other policies and programs babies need to thrive.

Let's Do This

Mental health matters from the start. Babies who live in families experiencing high levels of stressors such as parental loss, substance use, mental illness, or exposure to trauma are at heightened risk of disruption to healthy attachment and development, which can lead to mental health disorders. Parents’ mental health concerns, particularly maternal depression, can affect not only their own well-being but also that of their infants and young children. If left untreated, such disorders can set back a child’s development and undermine their ability to succeed in school and in life. By intervening early to support babies’ mental health, we can set young children up for success.

Babies need Congress to

Oppose cuts to Medicaid to ensure babies and those who care for them can access the mental health services they need; and invest in early childhood mental health funding streams that, in partnership with Medicaid, ensure young children receive needed services.

Mental health is formed in our earliest days, even before birth.  Learn More.

What it could mean for babies:

Amidst a nationwide shortage of early childhood mental health providers, many parents can’t find the specialized care their children need. Targeted federal funding can help expand the capacity of the health care system to meet the unique needs of infants, toddlers, and their families. More babies and families would have access to the continuum of services—from promotion to prevention to treatment – preventing lifelong mental health challenges.

Medicaid covers 44% of the nation’s infants and young children, and is one of the largest funding sources for early intervention services.

Infant and early childhood mental health services have been shown to save as much as $2,070 per child in long-term educational, healthcare, and criminal justice costs

Advocacy Tools & Resources

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Laying the Groundwork for All Future Development: Read to find out why experts see social and emotional development as the foundation for all other growth and learning.

Fight for Our Families: An Infant-Toddler Agenda for the President and the 118^th Congress: Strolling Thunder family advocates talked with ZERO TO THREE Policy Center staff about their priority policies for the current Administration and Congress. Read to learn more about the issues that most impact families, including IECMH.

The Basics of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: A Briefing Paper: Learn more about infant and early childhood mental health, why it is important, and policy recommendations.

Research-Tested Messages on Maternal and Child Health: Check out messages and tools designed to educate and inspire action among key stakeholders in your community.

How to Talk about IECMH: Use this infographic to help define infant and early childhood mental health and talk about social and emotional development.

Using Medicaid to Ensure the Healthy Social and Emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers: Discover practical state strategies, from Think Babies and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, to ensure that young children and their families covered by Medicaid receive the support that they need to nurture healthy emotional development.

State of Babies Yearbook: 2023: Use national and state-by-state data on the well-being of infants and toddlers to call on federal, state, and local policymakers to improve outcomes for babies and families.