MAIECMH Is One Year Old!

Year Two Kicks Off with New Offerings at MACMH Spring Conference

The Minnesota Association for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (MAIECMH) has completed its first year as MACMH’s early childhood division.  Key accomplishments include the following:

• Establishment of a 30-member statewide Advisory Board and Committees;

• Development of a Mission and Strategic Action Plan;

• Purchase of and completion of training to implement in Minnesota, the professional endorsement program, Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Based Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health (IMH-E);

• Presentations at and participation in state and national conferences;

• Statewide and national collaborative relationships focused on education and policy activities; and

• A communication network of 200+ professionals statewide to share information related to infant and early childhood mental health.

This year’s MACMH Annual Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference provides an opportunity to roll-out the professional endorsement program and to offer more in-depth presentations and workshops addressing infant and early childhood mental health.  A pre-conference symposium will be presented by Kadija Johnston, L.C.S.W., Director of Infant-Parent Program/Daycare Consultants, University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco General Hospital/Department of Psychiatry.  Ms. Johnston will offer an approach to consultation in preschool settings anchored in an infant and early childhood mental health perspective that attends to the extensive web of human inter-relationships that make up and effect children’s development. This understanding of social and emotional development will be linked to essential elements of an effective consultative stance and to program practices that support it, including suggestions for improving relationships among directors, staff, parents, children, and mental health consultants.

Following Ms. Johnston’s remarks and a discussion period, participants will have an opportunity to purchase and have Ms. Johnston sign her book, Mental Health Consultation in Child Care: Transforming Relationships With Directors, Staff, and Families, co-authored with Charles Brinamen and published in 2006 by Zero to Three Press.

In addition to 10 workshops addressing infant and early childhood mental health, this year’s conference will also feature a special session promoting reflective practice consultation for all professionals working with infants and very young children and their families.  Participation in reflective supervision supports core competencies advanced via our new-to-Minnesota professional endorsement program, Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Based Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health (IMH-E).

Developed by the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, the program promotes and documents the professional development of infant, early childhood, family service, health and mental health professionals focusing on culturally sensitive, relationship-based infant and early childhood mental health.  The endorsement is available to providers, clinicians and educators who work in a range of settings and professional disciplines at four different professional levels spanning the continuum of care.  It provides to peers, employers, referrals and court services seeking expert witnesses necessary information regarding a professional’s education and skills related to the social and emotional development and mental health of infants, young children and their families.  The program also informs individual professional development and career planning within a standards-of-practice framework focused on specialized knowledge, culturally competent best practice skills, supervised and guided work experiences and self-reflection.

A MAIECMH exhibit booth and poster session will provide more detail on the endorsement program as well as information on how to become involved in the work of the association.  Contact Candy Kragthorpe, MAIECMH Director, with any questions at 651-644-7333 or ckragthorpe@macmh.org.

MAIECMH Honored

The Minnesota Association for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (MAIECMH) is this year’s recipient of the Minnesota Family Based Services Association’s Jerry Lindskog Award: In Search of Excellence. 

This honor is awarded annually for outstanding performance in the human service field as a tribute to Jerry Lindskog and his commitment to strength based, family based services. 

The Minnesota Family Based Services Association (MFBSA) was formed in 1983 to support home based services in Minnesota.  MFBSA state-wide membership includes administrators, professionals, providers, and volunteers who believe the family is the child's primary resource for care and nurturing. 

The award will be presented to MAIECMH representatives at the annual MFBSA dinner on February 21st at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud.