Mecklenburg County recently announced a new program designed to support mental health among families with infants and toddlers.
The Mecklenburg County Public Health’s Children’s Developmental Services Agency will provide free mental health services to Mecklenburg County residents with children under four years old.
Licensed clinicians will provide a comprehensive assessment and evidence-based services addressing early trauma, attachment, behavior concerns and overall parenting support for 10 to 16 weeks.
Some ways the program will assist families include:
- Helping families support their children by regulating their emotions and behavior
- Coping with difficult events such as the loss of a loved one, frequent moves or changes in caregivers, and traumatic events such as break-ins, car accidents, or community violence
- Dealing with ongoing significant stress due to divorce, substance use and domestic violence
Mecklenburg County officials say the program will fill a gap in accessible infant and early childhood mental health services.
“When dramatic changes occur in the life of a baby or young child, they are affected,” Tamikia Greene, Mecklenburg County Assistant Public Health director, Case Management, said. “We want to help that child and that family with the needed mental health services. Babies and young children may not be able to tell you what’s wrong, but they feel it and it shapes their growth.”
Funding for the program comes from the American Rescue Plan Act.
For more information, email CDSA-IECMH@mecknc.gov or call the referral line at 704-336-7130.
