The Center for Early Childhood

The Center for Early Childhood combines services formerly known as the Preschool Outreach Project or POP and the Rice Center.  Through a combination of direct care and consultation services, The Center works with children, parents/caregivers, and professionals to help build and support strong social-emotional foundations for happy, healthy childhoods.  The Center provides age-appropriate, culturally sensitive interventions for children and families in a variety of settings including our child-friendly clinic, homes, early education settings, shelters, and community spaces.

Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Outpatient Services are primarily funded by insurance reimbursement for individual and family therapy, case and family consults, and preventative behavioral health groups for children. Services are provided by Master’s Level ECMH Clinicians with training in evidence-based practices receiving individual and group supervision and reflective practice supports. ECMH Clinicians serve young children in the context of their family and community facing a spectrum of behavioral health risk and resilience. ECMH Clinicians promote a family-centered, strengths-based, and equity-aware philosophy of intervention, engaging through relationship-based care to address issues including typical development, family transitions, trauma, attachment, anxiety and/or depression, chronic stress, and post-partum adjustment. 

Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) Consultation Services are primarily funded by individual contracts with early education and care partners. These services are provided by ECMH Consultants with lived-experience as early educators and/or parents of children in early education settings. Consultations are prevention-focused  addressing the developmental, social-emotional, and behavioral needs and capacities of children in early education settings. ECMH Consultants build program capacity and life-long success by:

• Reducing or eliminating the use of exclusionary practices (ie-suspension and expulsion)
• Identifying, preventing, and reducing the impact of emotional stressors
• Coaching staff to implement strategies addressing child- and classroom-specific concerns
• Supporting caregivers/families to access services and supports
• Reducing educator stress/turnover