State Policies to Promote Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

Did you know state policies play an important role in promoting infant and early childhood mental health? 

Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) describes the capacity of a child leading to healthy social and emotional development, including the ability to form secure connections with adults and other children, manage a broad range of emotions, and learn from exploration of the child’s environment.

Although all the Roadmap policies impact the IECMH system in a broad context, four of these evidence-based policies—paid family and medical leave, higher state minimum wages, Early Head Start, and Early Intervention services—specifically promote positive outcomes for infants’ and toddlers’ mental health.

Learn more in this summary of the evidence.