For the last 9 years, our conference tag line has been: We Can’t Wait! There has been an urgent need to ensure that children in all our communities receive the help they need in order to grow, learn, and thrive in San Diego County and throughout southern California. As we celebrate our 10th Annual Early Childhood Mental Health Conference, we are proud to say: We Didn’t Wait! This conference has participated in A Decade of Progress, and our goal for this educational activity will be to outline A Future of Hope for children, their families, educators, clinical providers, and the community as a whole.

Distinguished speakers will provide clinical education on evidence-based and evidence-informed practices, trauma informed care, and innovative interventions that support hope for children and families with mental health concerns, substance use issues, intergenerational trauma, child welfare services involvement, community violence, and other stressors that families deal with on a daily basis. While there is a lot still to be done, there is so much that the San Diego ECMH community has gotten “right” in the last decade when it comes to early childhood mental health. The goal of this year’s conference is to weave together a review of the progress that has been made with a platform of hope to launch future directions of collaborative work. This conference is a unique opportunity for professionals who impact early childhood mental health in so many different ways to come together to share ideas and instill passion and hope to continue the work for the children and families we work with.

This conference will address the unique and complex needs of children and the families who are raising them despite challenging circumstances they may be facing. This Conference will bring physicians, clinicians, therapists, substance use treatment providers, educators, childcare workers and their perspectives together to improve understanding, knowledge and expertise, and add to the growing ECMH community here in San Diego.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be able to:

  • Review the progress made in areas of early childhood development and trauma-informed care of children and families
  • Discuss evidence-based, cooperative strategies for how parents, family members, teachers and other can positively support a child’s developmental experience
  • Identify implications for partnerships among healthcare, education, behavioral health, probation and child welfare professionals to address children in need of services from diverse cultural/experiential backgrounds
  • Recognize the struggle and decisions that families go through to seek services, the needs that clients have, and the current best practices that engage children and families in services
  • Coordinate school support and behavioral health care for children who are not making academic or social/emotional progress at school as a result of trauma, toxic stress and/or development challenges

Click here to view agenda and speakers.

Click here to view the faculty list

Click here to view the list of planning partners.