Why Young Children's Mental Health?

Mental health is at the very foundation of a child's readiness for interacting with the world and success in school. Healthy social and emotional development may be difficult to define, but is a joy to behold -- babies who smile and respond to your attention, toddlers who explore their world with wide-eyed curiosity, young children who share toys and games. Loving, consistent relationships with parents and caregivers create the ideal environment for healthy growth.

Early toxic stress -- such as that caused by difficult family situations, violence, or loss -- may short circuit the development of important skills and abilities for relating positively to others and dealing with adversity. The result too often shows up in child care programs and preschools as behavior problems. According to recent national studies, the rate of expulsion for preschool exceeds the rate of expulsion from kindergarten through high school.

What can Kansas communities do to promote mental health and prevent -- or at least minimize -- the impacts of social and emotional issues on a child's development?

Program Goal

This funding opportunity is designed to engage two or three Kansas communities in piloting coordinated approaches to early identification and early intervention for the mental health of young children.

The specific goal of the funding is to demonstrate community-level approaches to early screening of pregnant women, new mothers, and/or young children (0-6) and timely referral to effective early interventions.

It is expected that proposals include meaningful evaluation based on evidence-based standards to support potential replication in other Kansas communities.

Program Components

Proposed projects are expected to develop positive aspects of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to children’s mental health and overcome common barriers to early identification and intervention.  With the vision of supporting children and families while minimizing “labeling,” positive components of a program which strategies should address include:

• Parental skills and knowledge about child development and about identifying needs and accessing services
• Identification and widespread adoption of a single validated screening tool
• Screening and referral skills and knowledge among early childhood education and health care professionals as well as other potential referral sources such as the faith community, social service agencies, public schools, and law enforcement. 
• Workforce and program capacity of the mental health delivery system to provide services to young children.
• Navigational supports for families and referral sources
• Referral coordination and follow-up
• Availability of effective, evidenced-based early interventions
• Communication and language to reduce stigma and cultural barriers and improve understanding of mental health
• Key stakeholder—including parents/caregivers--engagement and support

In addition, data collection should be part of proposals and address at least the following:

• Rates of screening for pregnant women, new mothers, and/or young children
• Rates and categories of referrals
• Ratio of screening to those receiving services
• Length of time from referral to services
• Measures of effectiveness of services

Eligible Applicants

A 50l(c)(3) public charity or governmental entity serving a Kansas community is eligible.  It is expected that community-level partnerships will already exist or be organized for this project to support a coordinated approach to mental health for young children.  At a minimum, the following stakeholder groups should be represented in the proposal.

• Mental health care (Mental Health Center, mental health providers)
• Early childhood education (Head Start, Tiny K, Parents as Teachers, child care providers, preschools, etc.)
• Primary medical care (pediatricians, family medicine physicians, physician assistants, nurses, community health centers, health departments, etc.)
• Consumers (parents or other primary caregivers of at-risk children or children receiving services)

Projects that include broader representation of key stakeholders – faith communities, social service agencies, government, and k-12 public schools, for instance – are preferred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Criteria for Selection

• Effectiveness of the proposed strategies in addressing the Program Components.
• Clear understanding of community needs and strengths including knowledge of available baseline data and numbers of people to be served.
• Development of an organized parent/primary caregiver voice to represent parent concerns, issues, and needs through the planning, implementation, and evaluation process.
• Evidence to support the effectiveness of any proposed early intervention or, in the case of innovation, strong logic to justify the intervention and plans for gathering data to evaluate the intervention during the project.
• Commitment of key agencies/organizations to cooperation and coordination.
• Capacity of the applicant organization to implement the proposed project and manage grant funds
• Manageable plan to collect data and assess the project's impact with measurable project outcomes.
• Reasonable and cost-efficient budget
• Realistic plan to sustain benefits of the project.*
• Potential for replication

It is expected that at least one urban or semi-urban (population of 40 or more per square mile) and one rural community will be selected as pilot sites.

* Sustainability: likelihood of impact lasting beyond the grant period.  The hope is that work funded through this RFP is more than a time-limited project.  The project should make semi-permanent changes in policies and practices and create community resources which have an extended life beyond a one or two-year timeframe.  This concept is broader than “sustainability” which may assume continuation of all funded activities, which is not usually reasonable to expect.  However, projects should be designed to have some important benefits to early identification and early intervention that will continue after the funded work is completed.

Preference

Preference will be given to the area of Kansas – roughly the western two-thirds — comprising the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Available Funds

A minimum of $600,000 is available for award through this process. The maximum individual grant award will be $250,000.

Period of Work

Funded projects will begin June 1, 2011. Projects will extend over two to three years.

Restrictions on Uses of Funds

• Indirect expenses are limited to no more than 10% of the grant award.
• Lobbying expenses are limited to no more than 5% of grant funds.

Important Dates

Online Proposal Due - January 10, 2011
Site Visits* - January-February, 2011
Health Fund Decision - March 11, 2011
Project Start Date - June 1, 2011
Funding Available - June 10, 2011

*Health Fund staff and/or consultants may conduct a site visit as part of the review of your proposal.

Learning Community and Grant Reporting

• Grantees are expected to participate in a learning community of the pilot projects funded through this RFP. Each project will designate a project director and at least one co-learner to participate in telephone or webinar conference calls and potentially two face-to-face meetings. These will occur not more frequently than quarterly.
• Written reporting will be limited to a single final narrative covering the entire grant period and financial reports at six-month intervals. Additional oral reports may be requested.
• Evaluation measures will be proposed by the applicant in the proposal. Evaluation activities for selected proposals may be revised with the help of external consulants as part of the final grant documentation process.
• Expenses of attendance at learning community functions are not part of the grant award and will be separately funded by the Health Ministry Fund.