Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
Care Plus NJ: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program - CPNJ’s IECMH Program will fill the gap in service for direct behavioral health services as well as address the need for greater training within densely populated northern NJ in order to address the lack of early identification and appropriate intervention by child and family-serving professionals for infants and children under 12 years old who are at risk of, showing early signs of, or having been diagnosed with a mental illness, including a serious emotional disturbance (SED) as well as children with a history of in-utero exposure to substances that may impact development. With the goal of improving access to behavioral health services for children under 12, the CPNJ IECMH project will provide evidence-based age-appropriate screening, assessment and intervention services to at least 700 of children under 12 at risk of, showing early signs of, or having been diagnosed with a mental illness, including a serious emotional disturbance (SED) including children with a history of in-utero exposure to substances that may impact development. Additionally, we will seek to have 90% of children under age of 12 receive initial services within 10 days of inquiry. By the end of the project, CPNJ will provide multigenerational team-based services that promote positive care-giving relationships for 700 families and other caregivers of infants and children with or at high risk for mental illness. With the goal of building workforce capacity (training and consultations) among early care and education programs and service providers, CPNJ will provide infant and early childhood mental health training to at least 100 child and family-serving professionals including direct support for integration of infant and early childhood mental health assessment across their diverse disciplines and roles. CPNJ will provide 100 outreach and community engagement to child and family-serving professionals in order to promote community education and prevention. CPNJ will provide 50 trainings and consultations to other disciplines and organizations such as schools, care providers engaged with the target population. CPNJ will provide 50 specialized trainings and consultations over the lifetime of the grant period to mental health clinicians providing treatment in infant and child and early childhood mental health. The goal is to train 700 individuals in the course of the grant. Finally, CPNJ will implement plans for sustainability to ensure delivery of services once federal funding ends. By the end of the project period, training on Infant and Early Childhood mental health will be fully integrated as a requirement in CPNJ’s annual training for all clinicians working with this population. By the end of the year 2 a sustainability plan will be completed in order to maintain committed staffing level to provide ongoing direct behavioral health services and trainings within the catchment area. CPNJ will adopt the evidence-based approach to IECMHC through the Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and the IECMHC Toolbox. CPNJ will utilize the organizational expertise and success as a SAMHSA Funded CCBHC and Bergen Trauma and Training Center, as well as expand the workforce dedicated to and trained in infant and early childhood mental health. CPNJ has a commitment from numerous community partners to ensure success implementation of the IECMH Project.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).