Workforce Development Needs to Address Early Childhood Mental Health within the Childcare and Early School Years Setting

Supporting infant and early childhood mental health is a vital component of school readiness, but suspension or expulsion from early childhood educational settings can have a lasting impact on a child. The Pyramid Model for Social and Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (PM) framework and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) are two models to address preschool suspension and expulsion, while promoting young children’s healthy social emotional development. Both models require a qualified workforce. In Maryland, several initiatives are underway to address workforce development needs and to create pipelines of professionals trained in infant and early childhood mental health. These include statewide coordination of PM and IECMHC programming, the creation of new guidelines and pipelines for IECMHC service providers, workforce development, specific focus on equity within PM and IECMHC programs statewide, and an expansion of these efforts into early elementary school

Prevalence of co-occurring conditions among youths receiving treatment with primary anxiety, ADHD, or depressive disorder diagnoses

Introduction: Anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are some of the most common conditions that youths (≤ 18 years old) receive mental health treatment for. These conditions are associated with high-risk substance use or substance use disorders (SUDs). This study sought to identify the proportion of youths (≤ 18 years old) with anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, or ADHD as a primary diagnosis in community mental health centers (CMHCs) having co-occurring high-risk substance use or a SUD. Methods: Analysis included binary logistic regression models using the Mental Health Client-Level Data 2017 to 2019 datasets which contains annual cross-sectional administrative data from mental health treatment facilities. The final sample included n = 458,888 youths with an anxiety disorder as a primary diagnosis, n = 570,388 youths with a depressive disorder as a primary diagnosis, and n = 945,277 youths with ADHD as a primary diagnosis. Results: In the subsample with anxiety as a primary diagnosis, approximately 5% of youth had high-risk substance use or a SUD. Approximately 10% of youth with depression as a primary diagnosis had high-risk substance use or a SUD. Among youth with ADHD as a primary diagnosis, 5% had high-risk substance use or a SUD. Odds of having a co-occurring high-risk substance use or SUD differed based on the youth's age, region, race and ethnicity, gender, and their number ofother mental health diagnoses. Conclusions: Effective care for this high-need youth population at CMHCs will require mental health clinicians to possess knowledge and skills related to substance use treatment