Mental Health Consultation for
Child Care Centers

The State of Louisiana is now offering mental health consultation to Class A child care centers who have applied or who are in the process of applying to participate in the Quality Rating System. The consultant’s time and material are provided free of charge to your center as a means to enhance child care services offered by your center. 

We would like to work with you and your team of caregivers to support children’s social and behavioral competence and promote school and social readiness. We will tailor our services to meet the needs of your staff. The consultant will be available to: 

• Be at the center for one day a week for a six month period in order to get to know the staff.

• Provide specific in-service training (one clock hour provided per session) on social-emotional needs and early childhood development, handling challenging behaviors, implementing classroom strategies, etc. 

• Provide parent seminars on a variety of early childhood topics

Child care centers that have incorporated mental health consultants into their programs have found a decrease in staff turnover rates and staff stress, while also reporting an increase in job satisfaction. This has led to and demonstrated a significant improvement in overall child care quality. To sign up, visit www.qrslouisiana.org.

What is mental health consultation?

• A new approach to supporting the healthy development of young children.

• An essential component for supporting child care centers working to maximize the quality of their services.

• Designed to assist all children, not only the children who are exhibiting behavior problems, with the goal of achieving healthy behavioral, social, and emotional development.

Why is mental health important?

• More than ever before, preschool children are exhibiting problematic behaviors. Children of teachers who have access to a mental health consultant with expertise in the social-emotional development of young children are less likely to have behavioral struggles in the classroom.

• Unfortunately, about one third of all young children have at least one factor in their life (e.g. low income, low maternal education) that places them at higher risk for problems in social, emotional, and cognitive functioning.

What does a mental health consultant do?

• Works closely with teachers on-site and serves as a resource for child care providers as they foster and enhance children’s early development.

• Educates and trains teachers in the knowledge and application of developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom as well as understanding children and how best to foster healthy development.

• Helps teacher identify problem behaviors earlier so that they may be addressed before more serious problems occur.

• Helps teachers improve their feelings of competence in the caregiving role.

• Helps teachers manage feelings of stress and burnout, and to feel greater job satisfaction.

• Provides continuing education training to center staff and directors to meet state licensing requirements.

• Conducts seminars for parents who may be interested in enhancing their parenting knowledge and skills.

How does mental health consultation help children?

• Preschool children who develop appropriate social and emotional skills are more likely to be prepared for elementary school and to succeed throughout the school years.

• Social and emotional competence has been associated with more positive peer and teacher relationships and less aggressive behavior.

• Children’s relationships with their child care providers play an important role in developing a positive sense of self.

 For more information contact Karen.