The goal of the Child Care Based Mental Health Intervention activity is to increase the capacity for childcare providers to foster social-emotional development and address the mental health issues of children.

The following services are provided through this activity:

• Training for childcare providers in the "Caring for Children with Challenging Behaviors" curriculum
• Eligible participants will receive a grant up to $150 per classroom in classroom materials to enhance the social-emotional development or decrease the challenging behaviors of the children in their classroom.  
  
• Childcare-based therapy services will be provided to high-risk children who are uninsured or under-insured, expanding EChO's existing intervention.
• Support and information for parents
• Connection to community resources for a full developmental evaluation
• Advocacy and follow-up to ensure the child and family receive services
• Challenging behavior is any behavior that interferes with a child's learning, development and success at play; is harmful to the child, other children or adults; or puts a child at high risk for social problems or school failure. Smart Start funds support salaries for a Program Director and Early Childhood Consultants and other program expenses