The Healey-Driscoll Administration has announced $5 million in grants to expand early childhood mental health consultation services for children, families, educators and early education providers across Massachusetts. Through the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), five regional organizations were selected to provide Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation services statewide: the Collaborative for Educational Services, MSPCC, Empower Inc., the Justice Resource Institute and Walker Inc.
As a part of the EEC Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) program, the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) will be providing consultation services in Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin Counties, and part of Worcester County.
“Mental health challenges continue to affect children across Massachusetts, and these grants will help educators and families better support their mental health, improve learning, and connect young children with services that can make a lasting difference,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
The grants will help early education and care programs access specialized consultation to better support children’s social-emotional development, promote school readiness, strengthen classroom environments and connect families with additional services when needed. Grantees will work with programs to implement trauma-informed policies and practices, strengthen educators’ ability to identify and respond to behavioral, developmental, and mental health needs, and implement evidence-based positive behavior supports. They will also help programs build stronger partnerships with families through individualized behavior support plans, referrals to community-based services, and strategies that support children’s success both in the classroom and at home. Services include educator coaching, classroom observations, behavior support planning, and connections to community-based resources, including Early Intervention, special education and behavioral health services when additional support is needed.
The Collaborative for Educational Services, located in Northampton MA, will receive $1,157,712 through the grant, to serve the cities and towns of Adams, Agawam, Alford, Amherst, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashfield, Athol, Barre, Becket, Belchertown, Bernardston, Blandford, Brimfield, Brookfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Charlton, Cheshire, Chester, Chesterfield, Chicopee, Clarksburg, Colrain, Conway, Cummington, Dalton, Deerfield, Dudley, East Brookfield, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Egremont, Erving, Florida, Gardner, Gill, Goshen, Granby, Granville, Great Barrington, Greenfield, Hadley, Hampden, Hancock, Hardwick, Hatfield, Hawley, Heath, Hinsdale, Holland, Holyoke, Hubbardston, Huntington, Lanesborough, Lee, Leicester, Lenox, Leverett, Leyden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Middlefield, Monroe, Monson, Montague, Monterey, Montgomery, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Braintree, New Marlborough, New Salem, North Adams, North Brookfield, Northampton, Northfield, Oakham, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Paxton, Pelham, Peru, Petersham, Phillipston, Pittsfield, Plainfield, Princeton, Richmond, Rowe, Royalston, Russell, Rutland, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Southampton, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Stockbridge, Sturbridge, Sunderland, Templeton, Tolland, Tyringham, Wales, Ware, Warren, Warwick, Washington, Wendell, West Brookfield, West Springfield, West Stockbridge, Westfield, Westhampton, Westminster, Whately, Wilbraham, Williamsburg, Williamstown, Winchendon, Windsor, and Worthington.
“CES-ECMHC has been providing high quality EEC funded ECMHC services for close to 20 years in Hampshire and Franklin Counties. We are pleased and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to expand our services to Hampden, Berkshire and the Western corridor of Worcester counties,” said Desiree Lalbeharie, Ed.D., Director of Early Childhood at CES.
“We are expanding our core team of seasoned expert ECMHC consultants and look forward to collaborating with providers, educators, and families on supporting young children’s social-emotional needs and positive behaviors for rich developmentally appropriate early learning experiences and positive outcomes.”
Education Secretary Steve Zrike said investing in children’s social-emotional development during their earliest years helps build a strong foundation for future success.
“Supporting children’s social-emotional development during the earliest years is essential to helping them succeed in school and in life,” Zrike said. “These grants ensure educators and families have access to the expertise and resources they need to create safe, inclusive and nurturing learning environments.”
The CES Early Childhood Department (ECD) is a division of the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES), that provides early childhood development and learning expertise, customized professional development, resources, support, program evaluation, coaching, planning, and consultation to support early education and care programs, family child care providers, and early elementary programs. CES ECD partners with early educators and administrators, EEC-licensed early childhood providers, Early Intervention programs, community agencies, and families to strengthen high-quality developmentally appropriate early learning experiences across Massachusetts.
CES is a public nonprofit educational services agency that offers direct educational support and services to our 37 member school districts and to organizations, districts, and early childhood providers statewide for over 50 years.
For more information, please contact
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC)
Collaborative for Educational Services
97 Hawley Street
Northampton, MA 01060
413-586-4900
Email: ecmhc@collaborative.org
Website: collaborative.org/ecmh
Access the ECMHC Referral Form