National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day Activities -- May 2010

Congratulations to all grantees who held Awareness Day events on/around May 6, 2010. Your efforts informed parents, educators, legislators, health care and other professionals; and the general public about what they can do to promote young child wellness and why it is so critical to the future of children, families and communities.

Here is a snapshot of Project LAUNCH grantees’ efforts to promote awareness on National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. Materials referred to in each of these summaries can be founf on the right sidebar on this page. We hope these activities inspire you to begin planning early for Awareness Day in May 2011. This will be the second year of focus on early childhood.

California: The Project LAUNCH state team partnered with several state and county child-serving agencies that hosted family and community events and arranged local media coverage. The state team circulate newly developed early childhood mental health materials created by Project ABC in Los Angeles (System of Care grant), by distributing. These include:

• “My Feelings Activity Book“ for Preschoolers
• “What is Infant Mental Health and Why is it Important” (booklet)
• Training Guidelines and Personnel Competencies for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health: Revised. (2009)
• Relationships Matter campaign posters

Illinois: Project LAUNCH’s local and state councils teamed up with several local Chicago-area child care and Head Start centers to host a mental health awareness resource fair. More than 20 mental health-related service organizations provided information on their services to support families with young children. The event was held at Healthy Families Chicago’s Community Room. One local Head Start center brought a busload of parents and their children; more than 50 families attended the event. Two child care centers hosted an Art Action Day, where teachers and children created a quilt about feelings identified from books read by the teachers. Books recommended by local early childhood mental health consultants were purchased and donated to these two centers to help teachers talk with children about feelings. At the community event, families learned about resources while their children attended an activity organized by the Chicago Children’s Museum. An art therapist demonstrated an art activity for parents to do with their children as she discussed feelings with both groups. Families were excited about these resources and the opportunity to work with their children on projects. Statewide, other local communities celebrated Awareness Day by reading social-emotional learning books to children in child care centers or distributing information to families on mental health services at local health fairs.

Iowa: Project LAUNCH’s state and local teams joined with the Iowa Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health and 1st Five to host a Children’s Mental Health Day at the Polk County Farmer’s Market. Collaborative activities were focused on promoting developmental screening to parents and families. Staff handed out brochures about LAUNCH services, reusable bags with the LAUNCH logo, Frisbees, hats, developmental wheels from Early ACCESS (Part C, IDEA), and the Zero to Three Social and Emotional wheels. The event was attended by 30,000 people.

Kansas: Kansas Project LAUNCH hosted a series of webinars in recognition of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day to provide free professional development opportunities for child care providers, early childhood educators, and other professionals working to promote positive mental health in children. Approximately 200 Kansans participated in the webinar series. Topics included Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement, Screening for Mental Health Issues in a Healthcare Setting, Promoting Positive Mental and Physical Health through Nutrition and Activity, Maternal Depression and the Effects on Children, and Public Health Approach to Children’s Mental Health. Participants received certificates of attendance for continuing education credit.

Copies of handouts and recorded versions of the webinars are available at http://www.keccs.org/~eccs/project-launch/index.shtml

2010 Awareness Day Final Report

New Mexico: New Mexico created a children’s book about recognizing feelings, in Spanish and English. It was distributed to Pre-K and Head Start Children around the state and posted on the project web site.

New York: Westchester County held a celebration/recognition breakfast in Peekskill to honor community members for serving and supporting children with behavioral challenges. Activities held at Open Door, the lead agency for the LAUNCH initiative, focused on social-emotional wellness. Awareness Day also created an opportunity for outreach and education at the Annual Conference of the Child Care Council of Westchester held on May 6. Staff from Early Step Forward, an evidence-based Project LAUNCH initiative promoting social-emotional development in local day care centers, distributed literature about young child emotional and social wellness. More than 300 participants attended the conference, which included a new track on the emotional and social wellness of very young children, their families, and the service providers who work with them. Conference presentations included “How Important Are You?,” which emphasized the significant role of the provider in the healthy development of young children; a presentation on the impact of domestic violence on young children and their families; and guidelines for service providers on steps to take in their work with young children.

Rhode Island: Project LAUNCH staff presented a program overview and Awareness Day materials at Rhode Island Hospital’s Pediatric Grand Rounds on April 30. Staff also collaborated with several other organizations at many early childhood sites that sponsored day and evening Awareness Day events for parents and children, where they distributed parenting materials and art and writing projects for children. One co-collaborator was Providence Head Start, which engaged all 1,200 students in art and writing projects around expressing feelings. A new partnership was formed with the Borders bookstore in Providence, which promises to be a collaborator for next year’s campaign. Lastly, media outreach resulted in a front-page story in The Providence Journal on children’s emotional development (see www.projo.com/education/content/CHILDRENS_MENTAL_HEALTH_05-30-10_3GIE8LP...).

Washington, DC: The Project LAUNCH site got a proclamation from the mayor declaring May 6 to be Mental Health Awareness Day in the District. Staff also wrote an article titled “Celebrating National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day” for OSSE’s Division of Early Childhood Education Community Newsletter, which was distributed to early childhood stakeholders.