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Introduction
On October 23 and 24, 2000, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families
(ACYF) convened the Infant Mental Health Forum in Washington, DC. ACYF undertook the planning
of the Infant Mental Health Forum in response to questions from program staff and members of
the technical assistance network. These questions included inquiries about the meaning of the
term "infant mental health" as well as resources to turn to for information. Given
the Head Start mandate to provide comprehensive services to families, there were also many questions
about the Early Head Start and Migrant Head Start role in providing or accessing mental health
services for children and families. Programs are encountering some families with identified
mental health needs, some families who develop needs over time, and others who are not in need
of specialized services but do experience milder and transitory problems, as do all infants
and families as they encounter new developmental challenges. Therefore, this meeting was designed
to address the range of needs from the promotion of healthy emotional development to the prevention
of problems in at-risk groups and intervention for those families with identified needs. In
order to cover this array of issues, experts from many disciplines associated with infant mental
health were asked to come and share their knowledge. Additionally, Early Head Start and Migrant
Head Start parents, program staff, and regional and central office staff were asked to share
their knowledge from experiences in Head Start settings. Finally, partners from other federal
agencies and private foundations were invited in order to facilitate communication among those
interested in furthering the mission of meeting the mental health needs of young children and
their families.
Early Head Start is taking a number of action steps designed to build on knowledge
generated from the Forum on Infant Mental Health. The Head Start Bureau is supporting the Early
Head Start National Resource Center (EHS NRC) at Zero to Three to engage in a number of follow-up
activities critical to maintain sustained focus on this important issue. For more information,
see Infant Mental Health Initiative.
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