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Massachusetts Association of Infant Mental Health: Birth to Six

Following two years of meeting, discussion, and planning, Mass AIMH received provisional status as an official affiliate of the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) earlier this year. Full WAIMH affiliation is pending. Mass AIMH will join a growing number of state associations affiliated with WAIMH.

The mission of this new volunteer organization is the promotion of, “infant and early childhood social and emotional well-being as foundational to development by enhancing and linking training, research, policy, and intervention through collaboration, support, and advocacy.”

Mass AIMH is now accepting applications for Founding Membership from individuals and organizations. Its Executive Board includes: Jayne Singer, PhD, President, Gerry Stechler, MD, Past-President, Donna Housman, PhD, Treasurer, Dorothy Richardson, PhD., President-Elect, Ann Easterbrooks, PhD, Secretary.

Early Education and Care, Birth to School Age Task Force

Led by Commissioner Sherri Killins of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), the Massachusetts Birth to School Age Task Force held its first full meeting on March 23, 2009. Phase 1 of the Task Force will focus on pre-birth to three year olds. The Task Force is a collaborative inter-agency effort. The charge of the Task Force is to put forth recommendations for strengthening supports and services that effectively meet the needs of children birth to school-age and their families.

Specifically, the Task Force will:

  • Develop achievable, actionable strategies and meaningful next steps for short-term and long-term implementation;
  • Provide expert feedback and refinement on proposals developed by the Executive Office of Education (EOE), the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), or other state agencies;
  • Identify areas for interagency collaboration and/or public/private partnership;
  • Serve in an advisory capacity to EEC and EOE.

Task Force Structure

Four Co-Chairs serve as the “Steering Committee” that guides the work of the full Task Force. The Co-Chairs are:

  1. Sherri Killins, Commissioner, Department of Early Education and Care;
  2. Lynson Beaulieu, EEC Board member and Director of Programs and Strategic Leadership, the Schott Foundation for Public Education;
  3. Peg Sprague, Vice President, United Way MA Bay and Merrimack Valley; and
  4. Libby Zimmerman, Executive Director, Connected Beginnings Training Institute.

There are five Subcommittees (each with their own co-Chairs):

  1. Good Health
  2. Strong Families/ Communities
  3. Positive Learning Experiences
  4. System
  5. Diversity

Most of the work is done at the sub-committee level, with regular communication between the Task Force Steering Committee and the Sub-Committee Chairs, as well as occasional meetings of the full Task Force.

Each subcommittee will be developing a vision statement, articulating outcomes, reviewing data and identifying progress indicators. The first report will be issued May 27, 2009, followed by an assessment of systems strengths and gaps on July 22, 2009; and strategies for achieving outcomes, in the form of recommendations to the Governor, in November 2009.

House Bill 3897, An Act Relative to Post-Partum Depression

Representative Ellen Story, in collaboration with many professionals and parents around the state, has introduced House Bill 3897, An Act Relative to Post-Partum Depression. Post-partum depression is a painful reality for many women, their infants, and their families. House Bill 3897, which has recently been assigned to the Committee on Financial Services, recommends expanding the effective work of the Department of Public Health, begun under a Federal Grant, to support Maternal and Infant Mental Health. In addition the Bill includes recommendations for Periodic Maternal Depression Screenings in multiple settings, over the first year of a child’s life expands the Early Intervention Partnership Program (EIPP), a pregnancy and post-partum home-visiting program for at-risk women, from nine to thirteen locations in Massachusetts and provides trainings on screening tools, and intervention techniques to support women and their children who are experiencing post-partum depression.