Early Childhood Family Specialist Endorsement® Requirements

Overview of Early Childhood Family Specialist Competencies

Education and Work Experience	Official transcripts from all degrees earned including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and/or Doctorate degrees. Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree required. Minimum two years of paid, post-Bachelor’s, professional work experience providing prevention and/or early intervention services that promote early childhood mental health. Work experience meets this criterion as long as the applicant has: Served a minimum of 10 families where the target of services is a child aged 3 up to 6 years old, and A primary focus of the services provided is the social-emotional needs of the child 3 up to 6 years old and their families/caregivers, and Services focus on the promotion of the relationships surrounding the 3 up to 6 year olds
Training	Applicants will include as many hours of training and/or continuing education as necessary to document that competencies (as specified in Competency Guidelines®) have been met For those whose coursework is from a field that is unrelated to early childhood, more specialized in-service training may be required to meet the breadth and depth of the competencies Training content will include the promotion of social-emotional development and the relationship-based principles of infant and early childhood mental health Minimum 30 clock hours required Typically, successful ECFS applications include 50 or more hours of specialized training unless the applicant has completed coursework specific to the Competency Guidelines®
Reflective Supervision/ Consultation	Minimum 24 clock hours within one- to two-year timeframe; post-Bachelor’s, relationship-based, reflective supervision or consultation, individually or in a group while providing services to children 3 up to 6 years old and families. Applicants for Early Childhood Family Specialist (ECFS) Endorsement® will receive reflective supervision/consultation from someone who is endorsed as an IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM-C or ECMHM-C or will be vetting and approved as meeting criteria for ECMHS or ECMHM-C. A bachelor’s prepared ECFS applicant should receive RS/C from someone who is endorsed as an IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM-C or ECMHM-C and may seek reflective supervision/consultation from a master’s prepared person who has earned IFS or ECFS Endorsement® if there is no one available who is endorsed as a IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM-C or ECMHM-C to provide this. The master’s prepared IFS or ECFS RS/C provider must receive reflective supervision/consultation while providing supervision to others.
Professional Reference Ratings	Please note: At least one rating must come from someone endorsed as an: IFS, ECFS, IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM, or ECMHM. Reference raters must be familiar with the applicant’s capacity to implement infant and early childhood mental health principles into practice. Total of 3 required: One from a current program supervisor One from a person provider of reflective supervision/consultation One from another supervisor, teacher, trainer, consultant, or colleague
Code of Ethics & Endorsement® Agreement	Signed
Demonstration of Competencies	Application will demonstrate that competencies have been adequately met through course work, in-service training, work/volunteer experiences, and reflective supervision/consultation experience. Written examination not required for applicants seeking Early Childhood Family Associate Endorsement®.
Professional Membership	Membership in the Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Association

The materials supporting the Connecticut Association for infant Mental Health (CT-AIMH) Competency Guidelines® are copyrighted by the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH). The CT-AIMHis able to make these materials available to our membership and collaborators through a licensing agreement with the MI-AIMH.

Copyright law does allow individuals to print out or make ONE copy of copyrighted material for personal, non-commercial purposes only. None of the copyrighted Endorsement® documents included here may be reproduced, displayed, distributed, or otherwise used in any format, including electronically, without the express written consent of MI-AIMH. Legal action will be taken against those who violate the copyright.