Welcome to the May 2024 issue of Prenatal - 5: Grow & Thrive - HCA’s monthly newsletter about our behavioral health work in the early years of life. This edition marks the 1-year anniversary of the Grow & Thrive newsletter, and we are so excited to celebrate with you all.  

In this edition 

• One year of the Grow & Thrive newsletter
• New IECMH training for agency leadership
• MHAYC Provider Spotlight series
• Maternal Mental Health Month in Washington
• Spotlight on Maternity Support Services (MSS) 
• Events & trainings
• DC:0-5 Clinical training
• Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) Scale training
• Resilient Leadership in IECMH series

P.S. Due to an internal systems error, the February, March, and April editions of the P-5 newsletter were not delivered to all subscribers. You can find earlier editions of this newsletter on our IECMH webpage, under IECMH updates. We apologize for this oversight! 

IECMH-WC and HCA will co-host a new training for behavioral health agency leaders on implementing Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health services, including the Mental Health Assessment for Young Children (MHAYC) policy. Behavioral health agency leaders will learn current Apple Health IECMH policies and guidance, an overview of the DC:0-5, and best practices for adopting IECMH in their programs. Participants will also receive resources to enhance their agency’s mental health services for young children and families. 

This training will be offered on June 7, 2024. Spots are limited, so learn more about the training and register in the Events section below! 

Are you exploring how to build out services for young children? Have you had trials and errors incorporating IECMH at your organization? We want to hear about your experiences and what you’ve learned, even if there have been bumps along the way. Reach out to Christine Cole to talk through ways you can get involved. 

Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed May 2024 as Maternal Mental Health month in Washington State. This proclamation highlighted the critical importance of maternal mental health and the need for increased awareness, education, and support for parents before, during, and after pregnancy. This proclamation is a step forward to begin destigmatizing maternal mental health and starting the conversation about the supports needed to address the needs of the perinatal population.  

Check out our special edition of the Prenatal – Five Grow & Thrive newsletter from earlier in May, all about perinatal mental health and what you can do to participate in this special observance. 

The Zero to Three IECMH Finance and Policy Project (FPP) is a multi-state learning collaborative to support states in advancing systems-level IECMH policies and financing. FPP helps states learn from their peers and national experts about innovative ways to advance IECMH through legislation, administrative policies, and funding streams. Washington’s participation in FPP was a key component of advocacy for HB 1325 (2021), which created the Mental Health Assessment for Young Children program. 

Recently, Zero To Three released a report on the impact of the FPP, highlighting core practices that are essential for embedding IECMH into child and family serving systems and drawing attention to progress made by states that have been part of this work. HCA’s efforts to improve our communication to providers about IECMH services was included as one of these core practices. The report notes our iterative, community-informed approach to communication, our intentional efforts to embed IECMH guidance into existing materials, and our strong partnership with the HCA Communications team.   

Special thanks to the leadership and visioning of Kiki Fabian and Jennifer Peterson on this work! 

The MHAYC Provider Spotlight series is intended to support providers in implementing MHAYC at their organizations. Each spotlight will focus on different aspects of MHAYC implementation and feature organizations who are putting it into practice 

Agency Shifts – Workflows, Staffing, and Electronic Health Records | July 25 | 11 a.m. to noon | Virtual. During this Spotlight event, you will hear from other providers about how they’ve shifted their intake workflows to better support multi-session assessments and use of the DC:0-5, including strategies for scheduling sessions, assigning staff, engaging with caregivers through the process, and updating EHRs like EPIC and Credible to reduce administrative burden  

Still haven’t attended a DC:0-5 training or have new staff that need DC:0-5 training? Attended a DC:0-5 training but want to learn more? The following professional development opportunities are provided at no-cost by the IECMH-WC, and they are open to providers who serve children and families enrolled in Apple Health.  

Mental Health Assessment for Young Children: Leadership Overview to Support Agency Implementation | June 7 | 9 a.m. to noon | Virtual. This training is designed for agency leaders, supervisors, and other non-clinical administrators to learn more about the Mental Health Assessment for Young Children policy, including the background, approach, and content areas of DC:0-5. You will learn about Apple Health IECMH policies and resources, agency best practices from the field, and strategies to enhance your team’s ability to provide services to young children and their families. 

First Steps is a Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) program that helps low-income pregnant individuals get the health and social services they may need, and it covers a variety of services for pregnant individuals and their infants. One of the enhanced pregnancy programs covered under First Steps is Maternity Support Services (MSS). 

MSS provides preventive health and education services to help an individual have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Individuals can receive MSS through the First Steps Program if they are pregnant or up to 60 days postpartum and receiving Apple Health. Services can be provided virtually, in the provider’s office, in the family’s home, or in a community setting. 

MSS is designed to provide whole-person care, including behavioral health care.  

• Services are provided by a team that includes behavioral health specialists (BHS), in addition to nurses, dietitians, and optional community health workers.  
• A BHS can provide brief counseling and interventions, as well as education, case management, and referrals to needed services, through MSS.  
• The MSS program requires screening individuals for mental health and substance use disorder needs, in addition to physical, social, and economic needs. 
• MSS aims to increase postpartum mood disorder screening and decrease substance use during pregnancy, along with goals around prenatal care, family planning, and infant health. 

To refer a pregnant or postpartum person to MSS, refer to the First Steps MSS and ICM Provider Directory or call the Help Me Grow hotline at 1-800-322-2588. 

To learn more about MSS, visit the First Steps enhanced services webpage. 

You can find earlier editions of this newsletter on our IECMH webpage, under IECMH updates.  

Prenatal – 5: Grow & Thrive is also a spin-off newsletter of HCA’s Prenatal – 25: Thrive newsletter, which focuses on behavioral health for the entire age span of pregnancy to early adulthood. If you missed it, check out the most recent edition of the P-25 Thrive newsletter. 

Learn more by visiting the IECMH webpage for recent project updates.