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 Early
Childhood Mental HealthAt any time 1 in 5 children and adolescents may have a mental health problem that could lead to a variety of problems. TERMS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND YOUNG CHILDREN Mental health promotion: Activities offered to individuals and groups focused on supporting and developing competence. Prevention: Identification of an issue and providing intervention before a diagnosis. Early intervention: the timing of an intervention relative to when a problem occurs and to interventions with children anywhere between the ages of 0 and 5. Early childhood mental health: Support services for social and emotional development for children ages 0-5 EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES SHOULD DO THE FOLLOWING Promote the emotional and behavioral well-being of young children, particularly those whose emotional development is compromised by virtue of poverty or other environmental or biological risks; Help families of young children address whatever barriers they face to ensure that their children’s emotional development is not compromised; Expand the competencies of non-familial caregivers and others to promote the emotional well-being of young children and families, particularly those at risk by virtue of environmental and biological factors; and Ensure that young children experiencing clearly atypical emotional and behavioral development and their families have access to needed services and supports. Excerpted from Knitzer, J. (1999). The historical role of mental health services in Head Start and view from the fields. NHSA Dialogue: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Intervention Fields, 2(2), 194-197 |