Every Child Belongs (ECB) was created as Oregon’s response to high rates of exclusionary discipline in early learning and care programs. Data shows that children—especially boys, children of color, and children with disabilities—are disproportionately asked to leave care.
In 2021, legislation (HB 2166 and SB 236) established the service, which aims to:
- Prevent suspension and expulsion in early learning,
- Reduce disparities in who is suspended and expelled,
- Provide equitable statewide support to educators,
- Improve child outcomes, and
- Reduce workforce stress.
Types of Support
ECB is for early learning providers who need support in navigating challenging behaviors, keeping children in care, or finding help in your region. Below we describe the various types of support that you may request through the ECB Connect.
Classroom Technical Assistance
Many situations can be improved through technical assistance to strengthen the classroom environment. This may include observing in the classroom and talking with the teacher and director. After gathering information about your request, the specialist will offer various types of support, such as:
- Reflective facilitation for goal setting and planning
- Regular check in and reflection consultations
- Suggested classroom strategies to help manage challenging behaviors and overall supportive classroom practices, including supporting social/emotional development
- Information about training opportunities that might be useful
- Observations and feedback to support post-training practice
- Shared resources for teachers and families
- Consultations with the director about center policies
- Working to build on observation and documentation skills
- Making referrals for additional, specialized technical assistance or training
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
Sometimes more intensive support is needed to support early learning providers in their work with individual children and families who have unique needs. In these cases, an infant and early childhood mental health consultant will review the situation with the educator/provider and may make some initial observations. This may include observing in the classroom and talking with the educator/provider, director or owner, and a child’s family to determine the level and type of support.
Types of support include:
Child-Focused: IECMH consultants support an educator/provider and collaborate with them to understand and respond to a particular child. Despite the name, this is an intervention delivered to the educator/provider, not to the child.
Classroom-Focused: IECMH Consultants work with an educator/provider to increase the level of social-emotional support for all the children in the class/setting. The IECMH consultant observes, models, and offers resources. The approach is collaborative, reflective, supportive, and provider-centered.
Program-Focused: IECMH consultants offer reflective support to educators/providers/directors and other staff to focus on policies and procedures that will benefit all children and adults in the program.
IECMH consultants are trained to provide each type of consultation and develop the capacity to determine which type of support will be most helpful. It is common to provide multiple types of consultation in one visit or contact.