Program Planning and Reflection Tool (PPRT): Map Your IECMHC Program’s Development Pathway
Perhaps your community is starting a new infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) program or you’ve recently stepped into a leadership role for an existing consultation program. Maybe your program has been providing consultation for a while and you want to enhance services. The PPRT is designed to help programs at various stages of development identify where to focus planning, implementation, or enhancement efforts. By using this tool to thoroughly examine your program’s developmental progress in five key domains (Program Structure, Workforce, Program Evaluation, Equity and Policy & Financing), program leadership will be able to create a comprehensive growth plan that fits the program’s needs and goals.
- Register or Log in. First-time users must register to access the tool. Once registered, you can log back in as often as you like to complete additional domains and/or retake the full PPRT to review your program’s progress over time.
- Progress at Your Own Pace. You can complete the full tool in one sitting or incrementally, by domain. Simply log back in to pick up where you left off. Generally, it takes 1 to 2 hours to complete each domain module, depending on how much team discussion each item generates. We do not recommend completing the PPRT on your phone given the format settings.
- Make it a Team Effort. It is best to complete the PPRT as a program team, rather than working through it independently. The PPRT is designed to foster collaborative discussion and reflection that will lead to strategic action.
- Download Your Results and Planning Resources. You can save, print, or download your completed PPRT, organized by domain. The PPRT report will summarize your responses and highlight the items you identified as high priority in each domain. In addition, users will have the option to download the accompanying Action Plan template to help programs make progress in identified areas.
- The Program Structure domain examines 27 action steps program leadership can take to create and implement an IECMHC program. Completing this domain will help leadership to determine their program’s progress in shaping important program structure elements such as who will receive consultation, where and what consultation services will be provided, program infrastructure and policy, and program model or design.
- The Workforce domain explores 24 action steps program leadership can take to recruit, hire, train, and maintain a qualified and diverse staff of IECMH consultants. Completing this domain will help leadership consider their program’s progress in hiring, supporting, and retaining high-quality consultants.
- The Program Evaluation domain reviews 23 action steps program leadership can take to determine how to develop a high-quality evaluation. It is essential that IECMHC programs conduct high-quality evaluations of their programs. By gathering, analyzing, and reporting data, programs can learn about what they have been doing well as well as about what can be improved, including where there are equity gaps and/or disparities. Completing this domain will help leadership to assess their progress in developing a high-quality evaluation.
- The Equity domain highlights 15 action steps program leadership can take to determine how to advance equity at all levels of the program. Culture, biases, assumptions, and environments all shape relationships and behaviors and influence settings and communities in important and meaningful ways. Every individual who is part of the IEMCHC system has an important role to play in dismantling racism and promoting fair, positive, and equitable learning experiences and environments for infants, young children, and families. Advancing equity is a foundational goal of IECMHC. Completing this domain will help leadership determine what they need to advance equity at all levels of their program.
- The Policy & Financing domain evaluates 25 action steps program leadership can take to support sustainability through financing and public policy strategies that help institutionalize consultation and prioritize funding for consultation programs. IECMHC financing and policy development involve a series of strategies that can lead to sustainable consultation when aligned with other activities such as evaluation, program structure, and workforce development. Completing this domain will help leadership recognize opportunities to support their program’s sustainability.