The California Center for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health was created to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the infant-family and early childhood field.  Currently housed at the WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention, we work to assure the quality of infant-family and early childhood mental health services throughout California.  A key mission is to support the development of competent personnel in communities throughout the state. Professionals grounded in core infant-family and early childhood knowledge and relationship-based training will enhance the capacity of parents and other primary caregivers to support the social and emotional well-being of their children.  

Training guidelines and personnel competencies are critical to this growing field.  Well-trained professionals who both understand and know how to apply the key areas of learning are essential to the provision of infant-family and early childhood mental health services, including promotion, preventive intervention, and treatment.  Agencies with well-trained staff will be able to achieve excellence in intervening at the earliest possible time across and between a variety of systems and disciplines to insure optimal outcomes for all children.

In addition to providing information on California’s Training Guidelines and Personnel Competencies for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health, this website includes a variety of additional resources related infant-family and early childhood mental health.  This site will soon be expanded to include information on upcoming workshops and training programs that are in alignment with the Training Guidelines, as well as a statewide database of individuals who have been endorsed.  Visit this website from time to time to see what is new.