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Getting Your Money's Worth: What Early Childhood Directors Should Know About Working With Mental Health Professionals, Beth L. Green, Maria C. Everhart, Lynwood Gordon

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The increasing numbers of young children with challenging behaviors and emotional problems have led many child care providers and early childhood education programs to employ or contract with mental health professionals (Lavigne et al., 1996). Head Start Programs, for example, are required by federal performance standards to utilize services of mental health professionals that are "sufficient" to meet the needs of children and families. However, there has been little research to help program managers make informed choices about who might provide the best services, what services are most important to support staff and families, and how to make the best …