MPSI Project LAUNCH: Promoting Young Child Wellness in Detroit - Through coordinated cross-sector systems, the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute Project LAUNCH (MPSI-PL): Promoting Young Child Wellness in Detroit program will educate and support parents/caregivers and increase access to high quality early childhood care and education for children birth-8 years of age. By improving the capacities of those adults who care for young children, MPSI-PL will help prevent serious emotional and behavioral problems and address concerns early to promote healthy development and reduce health disparities. MPSI-PL will focus on the population of Detroit, Michigan. Thirty percent of people in Detroit live below the poverty line; 43% of children live in poverty (21% in extreme poverty). The majority of young children in Detroit are Black (79% for birth-5 years, 77% for 5-9 years of age), with approximately 11% and 13% Hispanic, respectively. About 40% of children have experienced >2 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and more than 70% of those seen in community health settings have experienced >3 potentially traumatic events. Detroit is rated very high (.82 out of 1.0) on ‘social vulnerability’ based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index, and much of the geographic catchment within Detroit has a 10 out of 10 on the Area Deprivation Index; both indices are based on Census tract data and key Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Well over 50% of young children do not have access to high quality early education and care and, to our knowledge, no pediatric practice in Detroit has prevention-oriented integrated primary care for young children. The goals of MPSI-PL are to: 1) conduct culturally appropriate behavioral health screening and assessments of children birth-8 years old and their parents/caregivers, 2) provide infant and early childhood mental health intervention services, 3) provide family and parent training about early child development and culturally appropriate and effective parenting strategies, 4) provide behavioral health training in primary care settings as part of integrated pediatric primary care, 5) provide mental health consultation in early care and education settings, and 6) establish a Detroit Young Child Wellness Council (DYCWC). Objectives are: 1a-c) screen 50% of children and 50% of parents/caregivers in a pediatric integrated care clinic in Year 1, increasing by 7.5% each year to reach 80% by end of Year 5, 1d) assess 325 young children each year (total 1,625 children), in community mental health partner agencies; 2a-c) provide the Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting by 45 providers and 3 interns to 325 families a year (total 1,625 families); 3a-b) provide parent training to 130 parents/caregivers a year (total 650 by Year 5), 3c) deliver Parenting Young Children Check-Up to 50 parents in Year 1, 75 parents in Year 2, and 100 parents in Years 3-5 (total 425 parents), 3d) Train 30 professionals in Years 1-4 to deliver Attachment Vitamins to 50 parents/caregivers a year (250 in total), 3e) Send 12 parenting newsletters to 1,100 caregivers a year (total 13,200 distributions); 4a-d) A 4-part training series on early childhood and culturally appropriate, trauma-informed pediatric care will be delivered to 10 providers each year (total 50) at our pediatric partner, and to 30 additional community providers in Years 3-5; 5a-b) establish a Detroit Child Care Consortium to meet quarterly, 5c-d) two interns will provide Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation for 20 children a year (total 100 consultations), and a MPSI-PL consultant will serve two additional childcare centers a year (total 48 providers, 228 children in Years 3-5); 6a-d) quarterly meetings of the DYCWC will support the project and increase coordinated care and public awareness.
