September 15, 2004
Neal Horen from Georgetown University leads a discussion about early childhood care. (photo by Chris Ho)
YKHC Public Relations Staff Report
Behavioral Health professionals from throughout the YK Delta traveled to St. Mary's August 23-27 to attend the Early Childhood Mental Health Symposium.
The event was sponsored by YKHC's Early Childhood Program and the Behavioral Health (BH) "People Working Together" project.
A team of clinicians from Georgetown University provided the training, focusing on early intervention for children with behavioral and socio-emotional issues.
By getting an early diagnosis of any developmental issues, it gives at-risk kids the best chance of catching up, according to Erin Kinavey, YKHC's Family Infant Toddler (FIT) program director, who helped organize the event.
"This seminar helps our people get a baseline for behavioral and mental health milestones in child development," said Kinavey. "When we know the signs of what we should be looking for, we can better understand how to help our children."
"This seminar has been a great help to get everyone on the same page—there are lots of pieces to the puzzle and lots of complex issues in child development," Kinavey said. "In the villages, we see different milestones and expectations for kids."
Development indicators such as learning language, social skills, and social interactions may vary among different cultures, said Kinavey. "Here in the villages, it is common to speak of development in terms of a first catch or first hunt."
Kinavey said these events are often important developmental markers that urban kids don't usually experience until much later. "Working to understand and recognize unique circumstances like these can help us as care providers become more aware of the situations we may encounter."
The symposium was attended by more than 100 care providers. Most of the participants at the symposium were Wellness Counselors from YK villages, Family Advocates, and Village Clinicians.
Wellness Counselors provide consultation for substance abuse and mental health issues under the supervision of the Village Clinician. Family Advocates ensure that the services that a family needs are being provided and, like Wellness Counselors and Village Clinicians, are often well situated to provide assistance and guidance with early childhood development issues.
Guy Guy, a Behavioral Health Clinician, said although the symposium covered topics that were familiar to Clinicians, it provided a more detailed training for them. "It's about working together to help us meet our goal of improving the health of the people," he said.
The FIT program is a new addition at YKHC, and was assumed from Bethel Community Services on April 1, 2004. The new alignment allows for increased cooperation between community health aides, the Well Child Program, and the FIT program.
With help from Georgetown University, which is under contract to provide such workshops over the next year, YKHC will be training their Behavioral Health clinical staff (or core teams) and the Early Childhood program staff to recognize, diagnose, and treat early signs of social/emotional and developmental problems before they have a negative effect on the child.
The program's goal is to ensure that children get the developmental foundation they need to be happy, healthy, and ready to learn by the time they get to pre-school and kindergarten.
Kinavey is thankful for all of the involvement and interest from behavioral health clinicians throughout the Delta in this symposium.