Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist Endorsement® Requirements

Overview of Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist Competencies

Education	Official transcripts from all degrees earned and from any college credit’s earned, including Master’s, Doctorate, and/or Medical degrees OR Official transcript/certificate from other degree specific to one’s professional focus in early childhood mental health OR University certificate program, and/or course work in areas such as infant/very young child development(prenatal up to 6 years old), family-centered practice, cultural sensitivity, family relationships and dynamics, assessment, and intervention, in accordance with the Competency Guidelines®.
Work Experience	Two years, postgraduate, supervised paid work experiences providing culturally sensitive, relationship-focused, early childhood mental health services. This specialized work experience must be with both children 3 years up to 6 years old and their biological, foster, or adoptive parent(s) or guardian(s) on behalf of the parent-child relationship. Early childhood mental health services will include parent-child relationship-based therapies and practices and early relationship assessment and can include concrete assistance, advocacy, emotional support, and developmental guidance.^* These therapies and practices are intended to explicitly address issues related to attachment, separation, trauma, and unresolved grief and loss as they affect the attachment relationship, development, behavior, and care of child. The unresolved losses, or “ghosts,” might be from adverse childhood experiences that occurred during the caregivers’ own early childhood or may be related to more current circumstances for the child and family. Strong feelings, such as grief and loss, could also be associated with diagnosis or manifestation of a chronic illness, delay or disability. Professionals from a variety of disciplines, not only licensed mental health professionals, may earn Endorsement® if they have performed the work that meets these criteria. However, the applicant will need to have received the training necessary to provide this level of treatment/ intervention AND receive reflective supervision/consultation from someone endorsed as an: IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM-C or ECMHM-C about the treatment/intervention. In some cases, 1 year of a supervised graduate internship with direct ECMH practice experience as described above may be counted toward the 2 years paid work experience requirement if the supervisor of the internship is an endorsed professional (IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM- C or ECMHM- C). Applicant will submit description of internship for application reviewers’ consideration. ^*Early childhood mental health services that meet category ECMHS specialized work criteria are provided by professionals whose role includes intervention or treatment of the child’s primary caregiving relationship, (i.e., biological, foster, or adoptive parent or guardian); these experiences are critical to the development of a specialization in early childhood mental health. ECFS is broader and includes practitioners whose work experiences come solely from programs that provide education/support/consultation to infant and early childhood care providers or whose intent is primarily to educate parents.
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 degree is in a field that is unrelated to early childhood mental health, more specialized in-service training may be required to meet the breadth and depth of the competencies Training received will include the promotion of social emotional development and the relationship-based principles and practices of infant and early childhood mental health Minimum 30 clock hours required Typically, successful ECMHS applications include an average of 75 or more hours of specialized training unless the applicant has completed coursework specific to the Competency Guidelines®
Reflective Supervision/ Consultation	Relationship-focused, reflective supervision/consultation, individually or in a group, post-Masters, while providing services to children 3 years up to 6 years old and families. Provider of reflective supervision/consultation must be endorsed as an IMHS, ECMHS, IMHM-C or ECMHM-C or be vetted and approved as meeting criteria for ECMHS or ECMHM-C Minimum: 50 clock hours within a one- to two-year timeframe
Professional Reference Ratings	Please Note: At least one reference 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 current program supervisor One from person providing reflective supervision/consultation One from another supervisor, teacher, trainer, or consultant; colleague; or supervisee (if applicant is a supervisor)
Code of Ethics & Endorsement® Agreement	Signed
Demonstration of Competencies	Application will demonstrate that competencies have been adequately met through course work, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation experience Successful completion of the ECMH Endorsement® written examination, which includes a multiple choice and essay portion
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-AIMH is 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.