A Partnership to Strengthen Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in San Francisco

This report was compiled for The Primary School’s San Francisco Early Childhood Education team. The goal of the report is to understand the implementation of the Early Childhood Mental Health Initiative at Wu Yee Children’s Services sites in San Francisco. The report was informed by qualitative interviews with individuals across Wu Yee sites, including the Kirkwood location that is piloting a new mental health consultation model. Ultimately, implementation of the consultation program varied greatly from site to site, with the most success reported out of the Kirkwood pilot. Kirkwood stakeholders reported clear expectations for the consultation program, a site-wide culture of collaboration, and high satisfaction with the changes made in the pilot implementation versus the previous implementation. Across other sites, the data indicate that prioritizing clear communication across stakeholders and consistent expectations for consultants may result in site-level improvements, including increased capacity to support children’s social and academic needs and improved socio-emotional outcomes for children.

The Primary School team may use this report to conduct further research about the implementation of child mental health services. For example, more information is needed to determine if there are key differences among providers that impact their efficacy as mental health partners. In addition, data suggest that a range of interpretation during implementation may occur when request for quote (RFQ) language is flexible or vague.