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Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

Healthy social and emotional development.

Healthy, nurturing relationships with parents and caregivers lay the foundation for a baby’s social and emotional development, also known as infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). Mental health issues can take root very early in life. Infants and young children can have diagnosable and treatable mental health disorders. Policies and programs that fall along a promotion, prevention, and treatment continuum can provide parents and young children with support to promote social and emotional development and prevent and treat mental health issues as early as possible. Investments that support the mental health of infants and young children will yield benefits later and prevent the more costly interventions that all too often result when mental health challenges go unaddressed.

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Tell Congress to #ThinkBabiesAndAct and support healthy emotional development right from the start!

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THE FACTS

An estimated 10-16% of young children experience mental health conditions including PTSD and anxiety.

THE FACTS

IECMH consultation is associated with decreased rates of suspensions and expulsions.

THE FACTS

Evidence-based IECMH treatments have shown returns of $3.64 per dollar invested.

Legislation At-A-Glance

Funding IECMH Grants

The IECMH Promotion, Intervention, and Treatment grants expand capacity to address infant and early childhood mental health. Each year, Congress can increase funding for these grants through the appropriations process. Additionally, provisions from the Resilience Investment, Support, and Expansion (“RISE”) from Trauma Act (S. 2086) would expand the IECMH workforce, increase resources to communities, and establish training institutes and centers of excellence for IECMH.

What it could mean for babies:

More babies and families would have access to the continuum of services—from promotion to prevention to treatment – preventing lifelong mental health challenges. A robust and well-trained IECMH workforce would be established, dedicated to healthy social and emotional development for infants, toddlers, and their families.

Advocacy Tools & Resources

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.

Public Opinion Research: Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Social Media Toolkit: Spread the word! Download this toolkit to share the results of a national survey of voters, commissioned by ZERO TO THREE and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that tested messages and policies about the importance of supporting the emotional development of young children ages zero to three.

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: 2022: 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.

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