The Ohio Children’s Alliance, serving as a subgrantee to Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association (OCCRRA), will administer three statewide projects intended to support, expand and strengthen Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Services.

 

 

The projects include:

 

1. Mental Health Bridge—A referral platform will be developed to connect Ohio Child Care centers, and parents of the children enrolled, with a statewide network of ECMH specialists who are available to provide in-home, office-based, and virtual mental health services to Ohio's young children.
   
   
   
    

2. Expand IECMH Expertise Through Professional Development—15 training sessions will be added to the Ohio Registry and be available to Ohio mental health professionals focused on ECMH. This professional development is intended to provide a pathway for mental health professionals to obtain any of the three levels of Ohio’s Infant Mental Health Credential. Enhancing the number of IECMH credentialed professionals supports the Oho Whole Child Matters initiative and improves access to the highest caliber mental health care for young children.
   
   Grants will be available to behavioral health providers to offset the cost of staff attendance at the professional development sessions and to provide incentives for staff who obtain the credential.
   
    

3. Expand Therapeutic Child Care—The goal of this project is to expand access to evidence-based intensive services by providing grant dollars to promote new and expand existing therapeutic child care centers. OhioMHAS certified community mental health agencies will commit to partnering with an ODJFS licensed child care center to design and implement the program. All selected entities will implement a therapeutic child care program built upon evidence-based mental health practices.