Rensselaer, N.Y. – Youth Research, Inc. (YRI) announces a $675,000 grant from the Robin Hood Foundation to build organizational capacity and implement a mental health consultation (MHC) pilot project in conjunction with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).

YRI and OCFS will work with Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) team to improve access to mental health services for children enrolled in early childhood education programs throughout New York State from birth to age three, their most critical developmental period. Early childhood experiences, whether negative or positive, compound through childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Children living in poverty are especially vulnerable.

YRI will collect and evaluate data to determine how MHC should be conducted in the future in OCFS child care programs and to generate policy recommendations to OCFS.

“It is well known that consistent access to high-quality early childhood education opportunities that tend to children’s mental health is critical to prepare children for success in kindergarten and beyond,” said OCFS Commissioner Sheila J. Poole. “Emotional health can affect children’s educational development and their ability to connect with friends and family and can affect their ability to develop appropriate ways to cope with challenging circumstances. This funding will build on a multitude of existing efforts to bolster the social and emotional well-being and mental health of young children and families in New York. We’re thrilled to partner with YRI and grateful for the investment the Robin Hood Foundation is making in New York’s children.”

The funding will help YRI implement more pilot projects and emerging initiatives; hire project management and organizational development staff; develop processes and procedures to position the organization to respond to emerging and immediate needs; and establish the organization as a research and policy center.

“Too many New Yorkers are born into poverty, growing up against a backdrop ripe with racial and economic injustices,” said Dr. Kelvin Chan, Robin Hood’s managing director of early childhood. “YRI’s mental health consultation project will help to transform New York into an environment where all infants and toddlers have an equitable opportunity at a bright future.”

Research indicates that using Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) improves the quality of early childhood education programs and decreases behavior-related pre-school expulsions (https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(16)30283-0/fulltext).

In partnership with OCFS, YRI and the Robin Hood Foundation will pilot a statewide MHC program using the Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning & Development (CHILD) toolkit’s Infant Toddler Assessment (IT-CHILD). YRI will analyze MHC implementation data to inform OCFS-led statewide implementation of proven MHC practices that improve early care and learning.

YRI Executive Director Cassie Pustilnik said, “We are incredibly excited to partner with the Robin Hood Foundation. Our shared deep commitment to enhancing service provision for families impacted by racial and economic injustice is the catalyst for this critical mental health consultation work we are embarking on. In conjunction with Robin Hood, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, Yale University and other nonprofit partners, we aim to ensure children and families across the state have more equitable access to high quality child care, an essential resource that plays a critical role in shaping early childhood development and has a lasting community impact.”

For more information, please contact Morgan Horton, YRI grants administrator, at morgan.horton@yriny.org.

Youth Research Inc. assists OCFS and its state and local partners in developing, administering and delivering training and learning opportunities and related activities for OCFS’s full range of services, such as child welfare, juvenile justice, childcare, adoption and foster care, youth development, and child and adult protective services.

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services is dedicated to improving the integration of services for New York’s children, youth, families and vulnerable populations; to promoting their development; and to protecting them from violence, neglect, abuse and abandonment. The agency provides a system of family support, juvenile justice, child care and child welfare services that promote the safety and well-being of children and adults. Among the operating principles across all program areas are that services should be developmentally appropriate, family-centered and family-driven, community-based, locally responsive, and evidence and outcome based.

The Robin Hood Foundation, founded in 1988 and named after the outlaw from English folklore, combines investment principles and philanthropy to assist programs that target poverty in New York City. Robin Hood provides program grants, general operating support, capital grants and funds to build management capacity. Funding for the organization's activities comes from donations and fund-raising efforts.