Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) builds the capacity of childcare providers, families, programs and systems to prevent and reduce the impact of mental health challenges and social emotional delays among children ages birth to 5. In Illinois, this system is coordinated by
Caregiver Connections, who subcontracts with agencies across the state to provide ECMHC to all Illinois counties. For DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties, the consultants are employed by the Kane County Health Department and provide services free of charge.
The goal of ECMHC is to shift our understanding of behavior. Challenging behavior is stressed behavior, and you and your consultant become “detectives" together, identifying the stressors for a child in your care. Behavior change only occurs in relationship, so building your relationship with a particular child, parent, family, co-worker, etc. increases capacity and efficacy.
Reasons to Contact Your ECMHC:
- Challenges with a specific child
- Overall learning environment concerns- particularly those involving social-emotional skill building
- Challenges communicating with a parent or family
- Challenges between adult-staff relationships
- Seeking support with social-emotional skill building and understanding social-emotional development
- Seeking Gateways-approved trainings on topics of social-emotional skill building
What the Process Looks Like
- Childcare
providers are the point of contact for ECMHC. If you are a parent
seeking support for your child at his/her childcare center or home
provider, please pass the contact information on to your childcare
provider and they will contact the consultant directly.
- Once the provider makes contact, our
coordinated intake process will begin. The provider will receive
pre-paperwork, including parent and teacher forms. Once the forms are
complete, the
consultant will set up a date to observe the child or learning
environment, meet with providers, and/or meet with the provider/parent,
depending on the situation.
- At the initial consultation, the consultant will explain her role in the process and discuss the length of the consultation.
- If
you are seeking training, please contact your consultant
directly. Trainings are free of charge, can be on-site at a childcare
center or another location, and are Gateways approved.
- Training
and consultations may not be available on short notice. Anticipate
approximately 4 weeks between time of contact and initial visit. This
can vary, but it is better to seek support sooner than later.
DuPage, Kane and Lake Counties Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants
DuPage, Kane: Susan Mrazek, PhD, 630-426-9113, mrazeksusan@kanecountyil.gov
DuPage, Kane: Shannon Keating, MS, 224-363-1515, keatingshannon@kanecountyil.gov
