Oklahoma Expands Child Care Mental Health Consultation Services

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Oklahoma Child Care Services (OCCS) plans to expand its popular Child Care Mental Health Consultation service. Previously limited to child care centers that serve children from low income families, new guidelines now allow licensed family child care homes to also receive the service.
A partnership between the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Oklahoma State Department of Health provides free mental health consultants to licensed child care facilities across Oklahoma. Consultants help facilities address a variety of problems that affect the quality of care provided.

State agency partners should make a sufficient impact with program expansion to family child care homes.  “With this new expansion, we hope to increase services by 25 percent or more this fiscal year,” OCCS Program Manager Dale Wares said. Consultants served 116 child care centers in 23 Oklahoma counties last fiscal year. They made 575 visits to centers and logged more than 1,200 hours of service.

Oklahoma City resident Cassandra Twyman was one of the first family child care providers to take advantage of the opportunity. Twyman said, “By showing me ways to implement structure and discipline, Amy Huffer, with NorthCare, helped me to become a better child care provider while maintaining a positive environment for the children in my care."

Another available service is Warmline. Warmline is a toll-free number (1-888-574-5437) providers can call to request services. Melissa Griffin, coordinator of the statewide Warmline said, “Providers like the consultation service because it is problem specific and helps them address what is happening right now in their child care environment. The consultant comes to their environment and helps providers apply their training to specific situations or group of kids in their care.”

A recent poll of child care providers conducted by the early childhood magazine, “Child Care Information Exchange,” soliciting topic ideas for future issues of the magazine included several areas where consultant’s expertise can be used.  These include managing challenging behavior, caring for special needs children, handling difficult staff and stimulating brain development.

Typically, the consultants have masters degree-level training in either mental health or child development, and they can help directors and teachers improve the climate in their family child care home or center classroom.

For more child care consultation services information, contact the Warmline at: (888) 574-5437.

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