Infant-early childhood mental health statewide tour

IECMH Statewide Tour Report

In February 2024, HCA published a report on the findings of the IECMH Statewide Tour. Through the listening sessions, providers elevated seven core themes:

• IECMH workforce development
• Mental health assessment for young children
• Mental health treatment for young children
• Services in home and community settings
• Caregiver engagement
• Allied professional collaboration
• IECMH financing

Within these core themes, providers shared both best practices and challenges, many of which are supported by the broader evidence base. These were used to inform the development of HCA’s IECMH priorities and next steps HCA is committed to taking.

• Read the executive summary.
• Read the full report.
• Watch a video presentation about the report.
• Review a PowerPoint presentation about the report.
• Read HCA's IECMH priorities and next steps.

Provider listening sessions

Apple Health (Medicaid) contracting and billing is a complex process in general, and services for infant-early childhood mental health (IECMH) treatment, a newer concept for care, can feel even more complex. Feedback from providers, like that outlined in the recent Mental Health Assessment for Young Children (MHAYC) Implementation report, has called attention to the need for additional supports.

HCA hosted ten provider listening sessions to hear from Apple Health providers about their experiences with mental health services for families of infants and young children, including mental health assessments for young children.

Key topics for listening sessions included:

• Awareness and understanding of how to work with children birth through five and their families.
• Incorporating multi-session assessments and DC:0-5™ into electronic health records.
• Understanding agency policies, provider concerns, and successes for implementing provider travel.
• Shared lessons to documenting the use of DC:0-5™ within clinical records.

Please see our guiding questions and our core slide deck for more information about the questions asked during the listening sessions.

Community networking

Following provider listening session, HCA and partners hosted informal community networking events for local organizations that support families of young children.

These networking events offered a space to learn about available resources and connect with partners in their communities.

Our partners

HCA is deeply appreciative of the many community organizations who are partnering with us to host, coordinate, facilitate, and market these events. In particular, we are grateful to the following organizations:

• Benton-Franklin Health District
• Catholic Charities of Central Washington
• Children’s Home Society of Washington
• Clark County Public Health
• Columbia Wellness
• Elevate Health
• Grays County Public Health
• HopeSparks
• Kids Mental Health Pierce County
• King County Best Starts for Kids
• King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division
• Peninsula Early Childhood Coalition
• Pierce County Early Childhood Network
• Pierce County Human Services
• Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
• Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health (SWACH)
• Spokane Regional Health District