About

VISION

Our vision is for all of Georgia’s infants and young children to be safe and nurtured through consistent, caregiving relationships so they can reach their fullest potential.

MISSION

Our mission is to promote family, infant and early childhood mental health as foundational to development by:

• Raising awareness of young children’s social and emotional needs,
• Building culturally-responsive preventive and therapeutic professional capacities,
• Fostering interdisciplinary and cross-system collaboration by supporting professionals working with and on behalf of infants, young children and their families, and
• Advocating for and supporting policies in the best interest of infants, young children, families and communities.

GOALS

1. To promote throughout Georgia, the healthy social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of young children through supportive and nurturing relationships from conception through five years of age;
2. To facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among individuals concerned with promoting conditions that will bring about the optimal development of young children and child-caregiver and child-parent relationships;
3. To  encourage the understanding that early childhood is a sensitive period in the psychosocial development of individuals;
4. To promote education, research and study on social-emotional development during early childhood.
5. To increase the integration/inclusion of I-ECMH content in pre-service training programs that prepare students who will work with young children and their families;
6. To  promote education, professional development and expertise of diverse professionals who work with young children concerning the mental health of young children, parents, families and other caregivers;
7. To  promote the development of scientifically-based and evidence-informed practices of care across the infant and early childhood mental health continuum of services (promotion, prevention, intervention and treatment).
8. To integrate I-ECMH  competencies into the state, local and regional trainings that are designed to build a more specialized workforce with experiences and learning tools that support early relational health.