What Works? A Study of Effective Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Programs

Through in-depth site visits to six consultation programs demonstrating positive child, family, staff and/or program outcomes, this study explores what are the essential components of effective mental health consultation programs; what are the skills, competencies, and credentials of effective consultants; what are the training, supervision and support needs of consultants; what level of intervention intensity (i.e., frequency and duration) is needed to produce good outcomes; which outcomes should be targeted and how should they be measured?

The study also reports on the extent to which consultation efforts are occurring nationally and provides a series of recommendations generated by experts in the field to guide policymakers/funders, early childhood mental health consultation providers, early care and education program administrators, and researchers/evaluators.