EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH CONSULTATION: An Evaluation Tool Kit

The purpose of this tool kit is to increase the capacity for high-quality evaluation of early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) in community based settings. For states, communities, programs, and grant funded projects that are developing or have developed early childhood mental health consultation programs and want to assess their impact, this tool kit provides guidance, tools, and resources that will assist in designing and implementing program evaluations. For researchers, this tool kit also will help guide their work in research design and evaluation, determining evidence of effective practices, and decision-making related to tools and approaches to partnering with program staff. And for policy makers seeking to encourage strong program evaluations of funded projects, it should provide a template for crafting request for proposals for outside evaluators. The text and materials that follow focus on:

1. Defining early childhood mental health consultation services;

2. Designing and incorporating evaluation for early childhood mental health consultation services, identifying measures, and determining outcomes; and

3. Using evaluation data to report service outcomes and to help build the evidence base related to early childhood mental health consultation services.

The tool kit addresses early childhood mental health consultation and essential features of evaluating these services with attention to:

• The evidence base: Current issues and questions

• Early childhood mental health consultation: Defining characteristics and core features

• High quality evaluation: Components of evaluation

• Evaluation tools: Measuring process and outcomes

• Using the data: Integrating evaluation into program improvement and communicating outcomes

Each section includes case study illustrations from early childhood mental health consultation services and program evaluation efforts in the state of Maryland and a Key Questions Checklist reviewing key points raised in the text.