Making Dollars Follow Sense: Financing Early Childhood Mental Health Services to Promote Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children

Drawing on lessons from six case studies, this policy paper highlights the most innovative approaches states and communities are currently using to finance early childhood mental health services and explores what else might be done to mix, match, and leverage all available resources. The focus is on prevention and early intervention services to not only help children directly, but equally important, to help their families and other caregivers address the social and emotional challenges children face. The case studies are based on interviews with policy and program leaders in the states of Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Vermont, as well as two metropolitan areas