MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

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Mental Health and Wellness

Mental Health, Wellness, and Trauma Informed Services are focused on maintaining safe learning environments in the classroom by establishing positive and nurturing relationships that promote independence, respect, and pride in children & families.  You and your child’s teacher will partner to complete a behavioral (social/emotional) screening within 45 days of enrollment.   Parent consent is obtained for social-emotional screening during parent orientation as noted on the Health History.  Social-Emotional & Behavioral Screening consent includes Completion of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire-Social Emotional 2 (ASQ-SE-2, SEAM,  and Mental Health Consultant Services, as well as observations by the program's Behavior Intervention Specialist,  Behavior/Trauma Specialist, and/or MH manager. In addition, behavior coaches may be assigned to classrooms to support classroom educational staff in implementing positive behavioral supports. Program services may include the Helpline (Phone Consultation), Classroom Observation, Individual Observation, designing and implementing program practices responsive to identified concerns, and facilitating referrals to outside community resources. 

*Mental Health Consultant Assistants are supervised by a licensed Mental Health Professional. The MH Professional is available for consultation, questions or concerns on a weekly basis.* 

Please Be Advised:  If joint legal custody is shared, both individuals must provide consent for services and share information between the consultant and the program. Parents are required to notify the program of changes with legal custody during the child’s enrollment in the program. 

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Pyramid Model Practices/PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. 
PBIS is an exciting model being implemented in all of our classrooms to promote healthy social skills and use a positive approach to help manage child behavior.  Our Head Start/EHS program has adopted the PBIS initiative to create a program-wide system to help children learn appropriate social, emotional, and behavioral skills needed to be successful in a classroom environment.  PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and is based on the Pyramid Model designed by the Center for Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) and Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Youth and Children (TACSEI). The Pyramid Model is a framework of evidenced-based practices designed to improve classroom climates by building positive relationships with children, families, and colleagues through a nurturing and engaging environment focused on promoting social competence. The focus is on children’s positive behavior rather than on their negative behaviors.   In addition to the teaching practices of the Pyramid Model, the program utilizes supplemental curricula including the Al’s Pal’s Curriculum and the Baby Doll Circle Time. These curricula align with each other, focusing on universal skill development such as identifying feelings, building friendship skills, emotional regulation and problem-solving

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