IAITMH Endorsement
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Endorsement Levels of Competency
Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement 2010
Indiana Association for Infant and Toddler Mental Health IMH Endorsement
Serious shortages in mental health workforce capacity affect all agencies, programs, and settings where young children are served in Indiana. The Indiana Association for Infant and Toddler Mental Health has partnered with several state agencies to address this need by the adoption of an already proven competency-based Endorsement process that coordinates across all systems. The Endorsement process will increase mental health workforce capacity and create an integrated infrastructure that will ensure that all Indiana families with very young children have access to well-trained providers in their home communities.
With support from the Indiana State Department of Health’s Sunny Start program, the IAITMH purchased the MI-AIMH Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship- Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health from the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH). The MI-AIMH Endorsement has been successfully operating in Michigan for over 10 years and has now been adopted by 13 states, including Indiana as of August 2, 2010. Support to implement the Endorsement process in Indiana has been provided by the Indiana Head Start Collaboration and the Department of Child Services. Many other state agencies have partnered with IAITMH to help support other aspects of our overall plan and are listed below. We will receive technical assistance to implement Endorsement in the first quarter of 2011 and expect to be ready to begin enrolling providers in the system later this year.
Benefits of the Endorsement program are numerous for children and families, providers, agencies, and systems of care. Individuals who earned the Endorsement cite the program as leading to an increase in professional development, including the completion of a degree or adding a graduate degree. In addition to the positive provider experiences, families have benefitted from greater access to well-trained providers whether their family is in need of high quality child care or the services or a mental health professional. Agencies have found the Endorsement helpful in structuring training and ensuring a well-prepared early care and intervention workforce. Finally, systems have realized improvements in agreement about best practices, increased workforce capacity, and even cost savings because prevention and promotion of behavioral health by workers at Levels I and II reduces the need for services at more costly levels. The IAITMH looks forward to bringing this competency-based process to Indiana and the benefits it will bring to our systems and professionals, but most importantly to children and families.
Endorsement Partners Include:
Indiana State Department of Health
Indiana Head Start Collaborative
Division of Mental Health and Addiction
Department of Child Services
Bureau of Child Care