Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Young Children

This book examines the critical nature of engaging families in mental health interventions that promote well-being and resilience in young children, from birth to 8 years of age, with a particular focus on the importance of equity and systems of care. It addresses evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions to promote family engagement to improve behavioral, social, and emotional functioning of infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and children in the early elementary school years. The book is grounded in empirical knowledge on reducing health disparities and promoting equity in mental health care for young children, including equitable access, services, and outcomes. It emphasizes a community-based systems of care approach to family engagement in mental health interventions and highlights the most promising policies and practices.

Key areas of coverage include:

• Mental health interventions for different developmental levels, including infancy and toddlerhood, the preschool years, and in early elementary school.
• Inequities and gaps in systems of care for young children.
• Evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention practices and intervention strategies to engage families and support children’s psychological well-being.
• Family engagement in interventions for young children with special needs or who are recovering from trauma.

Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Young Children is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in developmental psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, family and systems therapy, school and clinical child psychology, social work and counseling, pediatrics and school nursing, and all interrelated disciplines.

Preface.- Chapter 1. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Infants and Toddlers.- Chapter 2. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Preschoolers.- Chapter 3. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Children in the Early Elementary School Years.- Chapter 4. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Children with Developmental Disabilities.- Chapter 5. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Children with Chronic Illnesses.- Chapter 6. Family Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma.- Chapter 7. Father Engagement in Mental Health Interventions for Young Children.- Chapter 8. Promoting Family Engagement in Mental Health Systems of Care for Young Children.- Chapter 9. Equity in Engaging Families in Mental Health Interventions for Young Children.- Chapter 10. Future Directions in Research and Practice.

Laura Nabors, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Human Services, in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati, with more than 20 years of experience in child and family research to promote children’s behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. She has expertise in program evaluation and interventions to promote resilience in young children who are developing typically as well as those with chronic illnesses and special needs. Dr. Nabors has published several books on children’s mental health, and the current volume adds to the literature by providing new information on use of evidence-based/evidence-informed interventions to promote family engagement to improve the resilience and behavioral, social, and emotional functioning of very young children. This book adds critical information to the literature about family engagement to promote children’s well-being and functioning in order to set a course for a positive developmental trajectory for lifelong health.

Jessica Dym Bartlett, MSW, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist, social worker, and researcher with more than 30 years of research, training and technical assistance, and direct care experience promoting young children’s well-being and resilience to trauma and adversity. She is the President and Co-Founder of Thriving Together, a small women-owned business that partners with programs, communities, states, tribes, territories, and the federal government to provide training and technical assistance (TTA) on creating and sustaining systems of care to promote infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) and family well-being. She has led numerous trainings and communities of practice on trauma and resilience, infant and early childhood mental health, parental stress and depression, staff well-being, child abuse and neglect, and intimate partner violence. She has been awarded more than 25 research and TTA grants and contracts and has worked on more than 50 projects on trauma, mental health, maltreatment prevention, and infant and early childhood. She is also an expert in translating research for practice, policy, and research audiences. Dr. Bartlett also has a broad applied background, having worked as a child and family psychotherapist, home visitor, and mental health consultant in early childhood, home visiting, and school settings.