Washington State Health Care Authority and Department of Health are conducting a short survey to better understand Washington’s perinatal mental health workforce – professionals who provide care during pregnancy and up to one year after birth.  

If you’re a licensed or license-eligible mental health clinician in Washington, we invite you to complete the survey by Friday, August 29. 

The DC:0-5 is the best-practice diagnostic manual for infants and young children, and it’s required for Apple Health providers. The Apple Health DC:0-5 Crosswalk is a reference tool that helps Apple Health providers ‘crosswalk’ DC:0-5 diagnoses to associated ICD-10 diagnostic codes.  

HCA updates the Crosswalk every year, and we solicit community feedback as part of this process. This year, HCA will publish a list of proposed updates to the Crosswalk on October 1, and you will have an opportunity to share your feedback by a survey, an email, or a conversation until November 1. Mark your calendars, and make sure you’re subscribed to this newsletter for updates. 

Did you miss our July IECMH Office Hours? We shared about HCA's IECMH work over the past year, and what’s coming next. Updates were also shared by IECMH community members, including: 

• the Barnard Center
• the Center for Early Relational Health
• Dads Move
• The Therapy Fund
• Skagit County Public Health
• Spokane Regional Health District
• Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services
• Department of Health (DOH) 

View the slides from HCA’s presentation, or click the link below to watch a recording of the entire event.  

The DC:0-5 Clinical training is a 12-hour training to support you in utilizing the DC:0-5 in your work assessing and diagnosing children birth through age five. Continuing education credits and manuals are provided at no-cost. Multiple offerings are available. 

• September 30 – October 2, 2025 | 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day | virtual 
• October 13 – 15, 2025 | 1 to 5 p.m. each day | virtual  

October 24, 2025 | 11 a.m. to noon | virtual | HCA is hosting a series of Provider Spotlights, focused on mental health assessments for young children (MHAYC). During the Spotlights, providers will share about the steps they took to put infant-early childhood mental health (IECMH) services into practice.   

In October, providers from different regions and settings will share about the importance of mental health assessments for young children, as well as their process to tailor standard intake forms to align with IECMH best practices.   

October 15, 2025 | 9 to 10 a.m. | virtual | In 2022, Apple Health policies changed to support developmentally appropriate mental health assessments for young children (MHAYC). But did these policy changes impact practice? Join HCA and the Department of Social & Human Service’s Research and Data Analysis (DSHS RDA) to hear about the results of an evaluation study to answer this question.  

The study used standard claims data submitted by health care providers to understand whether there were changes in multi-session assessments, assessments in natural settings, or assigned diagnoses before and after MHAYC policies went into effect. The results will provide insight into how Medicaid policy changes can impact the care that young children and family receive. 

Supporting families through stronger community coordination 

Strong community connections can make all the difference for families with young children. Yet despite many state and local efforts to support care coordination, families with children from prenatal to age three still face fragmented systems of care. This can mean missed opportunities to serve families effectively and improve outcomes in early childhood development and family well-being.  

Local, community-based navigators and coordinators such as Community Health Workers, Home Visitors, and Family Resource Navigators play a key role in supporting families through personalized supports. They bring valuable, on-the-ground insights into both the strengths of their communities and the real-life experiences of families. 

Strengthening local collaboration through ECDHS 

The Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems (ECDHS) work is centered on strengthening collaboration among community-based navigators and coordinators. At its core is a commitment to building partnerships, empowering early childhood and health leaders, and designing solutions that improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. 

Since summer 2024, partners in Grays Harbor and Grant counties have been working together to co-design and implement strategies that: 

• increase access to services and supports; 
• decrease barriers to care; 
• improve early childhood development health; 
• enhance family experiences and outcomes; and 
• expand provider and coordinator capacity. 

These community-based efforts are supported by a Core Implementation Team, which includes representatives from: 

• Help Me Grow Washington 
• Washington Communities for Children 
• Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics 
• Health Care Authority (HCA) 
• Department of Health (DOH) 
• Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) 

Together, this team connects state and local initiatives, encourages shared learning, and guides strategies using both practical experience and research evidence. 

Early learnings and successes 

Recently, local partners and the Core Implementation Team came together for a facilitated discussion to inform the development of an assessment report. This report captures early successes and lessons learned from the first 18 months of ECDHS implementation in Washington. 

About the ECDHS Evidence to Impact Center  

Washington is one of three implementation sites selected to participate in a multi-year effort to advance comprehensive statewide systems for early childhood developmental promotion, prevention, screening and intervention. The project is awarded by the ECDHS: Evidence to Impact Center, a technical assistance partnership led by ZERO TO THREE and funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

To learn more about ECDHS efforts in Washington state, please contact Angie Funaiole at Department of Health (DOH). 

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.