Austin, TX – May 18, 2006
The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Outreach Program of the Austin Child Guidance Center was recently awarded funding from the Dell Foundation and United Way Capital Area. The Dell Foundation’s Healthy Community Initiative awarded a two-year $50,000 grant and United Way Capital Area is supporting the program with a $10,000 targeted funding grant.
The program, begun in 2004 with declining funds from the City of Austin through the Institute for Childcare Excellence, is a collaboration between Austin Child Guidance Center, The University of Texas at Austin, and local childcare centers and preschools. The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Outreach Program works to improve the quality of care to infants/children with mental health concerns in preschool/childcare settings in the Austin area.
Six to eight graduate students studying social work, psychology, or nursing volunteer 3-4 hours weekly at local high-needs childcare centers and preschools. Concurrent with their volunteer placement, the graduate students are enrolled in a 26-week class at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work to learn about infant and early childhood mental health. The graduate students, called outreach specialists, are supervised by a licensed Austin Child Guidance Center therapist with expertise in working with young children. Each outreach specialist spends time observing and interacting with children at the sites, consults with parents and staff about positive mental health, provides individual and family counseling services when needed, and conducts training for childcare staff. The services they provide have a lasting impact on the families by promoting prevention and early intervention.
Established in 1951, Austin Child Guidance Center has the longest history of any outpatient mental health agency in Austin. Its mission is to improve the mental health of children through early intervention, diagnosis, and treatment to help them develop the emotional skills for meeting life’s challenges.
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