Early Head Start and infant mental health

✍ Scribed by Rachel Chazan-Cohen; Deborah Roderick Stark; Tammy L. Mann; Hiram E. Fitzgerald

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 75 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0163-9641
• DOI: 10.1002/imhj.20124

✦ Synopsis

Early Head Start is a national program committed to providing comprehensive services and support to pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. The federal Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers ͑Administration on Children, Youth and Families ͓ACYF͔, 1994͒, set forth a vision of communities where:

• Children, from birth, receive support through their family and their community to achieve optimal growth and development and build a foundation of security, selfconfidence, and character strength which will in turn enable them to build successful social relationships for learning and continued development through later childhood and adulthood.

• Families receive support to meet their personal goals, and resources and guidance to prepare for their child's birth and provide a warm, caring, responsive environment for their very young child.

• Communities embrace and support all families, celebrating the birth of their children and creating an environment where support and resources are mobilized to ensure that a comprehensive, integrated array of services are available and accessible for all very young children and their families.

• Staff receive the professional education and personal support they need to provide high quality environments and experiences, and engage in responsive relationships that promote the healthy development of infants, toddlers, and their families.