The Urban Institute and the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) launched a five-year collaboration through a federally funded cooperative agreement called the Child Care Policy Research Partnership in 2024. The partnership’s primary goal is to evaluate how Colorado’s Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) program supports access to high-quality care in underserved communities throughout the state by promoting the mental and behavioral health of young children in all places where they learn and grow.

The project encompasses four studies:

1. A study of early care and education providers’ experiences in ECMHC. This qualitative project will use focus groups and interviews to gather perspectives on the mental and behavioral health needs of children in Colorado, how ECMHC has supported the quality of provider-child relationships, and how consultation has enhanced provider and child well-being.
2. An implementation study of ECMHC in home-based child care settings. This study will analyze administrative data and collect qualitative data to understand how ECMHC is implemented in licensed family child care homes and informal settings such as family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care.
3. A randomized controlled trial of ECMHC in home-based child care settings. This randomized controlled trial will test whether ECMHC increases families’ access to quality care by exploring the impact of services on the quality and stability of provider-child relationships and indicators of child well-being in licensed family child care homes and FFN care.
4. A randomized controlled trial of a brief, virtual adapted ECMHC pilot. This randomized controlled trial will provide important information on the implementation and effectiveness of a brief adapted ECMHC program for early care and education providers in underserved communities.

Knowledge generated across studies will inform Colorado’s programmatic design and supplement findings for a legislative report on the program’s effectiveness. Findings will also support the ECMHC field nationally.

This project is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (Award #: 90YE0312) totaling $2 million over five years with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACF/HHS, or the US Government.

For more information, please visit the ACF website: Administrative and National Policy Requirements.

The partnership includes participation in a community of practice with other grantees through the Child Care Research and Evaluation Capacity Building Center. The project will be informed by a community advisory board (CAB) composed of community members and key partners that have participated in or collaborated locally with ECMHC services. The CAB will support project design, interpretation of findings, and dissemination across all phases of work.

Please contact [email protected] with questions or comments.