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OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Has your child been expelled from child care? Has your child been threatened with suspension if behavior doesn’t improve? Has your child been a victim of another child’s attack? These are examples of what people in the industry call “Challenging Behaviors in Child Care.”
Even in the best of circumstances, child development is not a smooth line trending upward -- rather it is a stair step process. Children go through periods of disorganization when challenging behavior -- that we as parents or child care providers experience as uncomfortable -- occurs frequently.
The biting 2- year-old, the defiant “No” of an 18-month-old, the whiny 3 year old, the potty mouth of the four year old are all examples of challenging behaviors that are part of normal development for most children.
When you add family stresses on top of the normal challenges of growing up, some children can become difficult to deal with a move to a new house, a parent’s job loss, divorce, death of a close relative, illness and accidents all disrupt the equilibrium of young children.
Children respond in one of two ways to stresses around them: They act out their frustration in ways that are challenging to the adults around them, or they withdraw and become sad and abnormally quiet. Helping children learn to cope with problems appropriately in early childhood is critical to later success in school.
Responding to an alarming increase in the number of children being suspended from child care for challenging behavior, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) Division of Child Care created a pilot child care consultation project in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS) four years ago.
Community mental health center employees with early childhood expertise provided consultation to child care centers. The consultants spent time in the child care center every week over a two-month period.
They observed groups of children, engaged the children in play, modeled interventions with children experiencing conflict within the group, consulted with teachers, provided in-service training for staff and consulted with directors about management issues. One of the consultants held a family night where parents were given child development information and could ask questions of the consultant.
At the conclusion of the pilot project, directors and consultants reported positive outcomes. They rated the assistance “very helpful” and noted that the teachers appreciated and responded positively to suggestions on how to respond better to specific children. They also liked getting ideas on how to talk to the parents about the children’s behavior in a non-threatening manner.
Based on the success of the pilot, OKDHS and DMHSAS entered into an interagency agreement to jointly provide consultation services to child care centers in a small number of counties. The program grew slowly until this year when the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) joined the partnership.
Child care consultation is now available in 45 counties including all the major metropolitan areas. Services are free to participating child care centers. To receive the free child care consultation service, centers must be licensed and contract with OKDHS to care for children from income eligible families.
The Warmline, a 24 hour phone consultation service provided for child care teachers and directors by a partnership between OKDHS and OSDH, accepts referrals. Centers requesting child care consultation can reach the Warmline at 888-574-5437.
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