What’s Working? A Study of the Intersection of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Networks and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation

Even though family, friend and neighbor (FFN) child care is the most common non-parental child care arrangement, very little is known about the characteristics, quality and evidence of successful programs offering training, education and support to FFN providers. 

In this study, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we endeavored to understand more about the needs of FFN providers and the families they serve. We studied four sites where there was or is an intersection between FFN care and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) to begin to learn about its availability, applicability and usefulness for FFN providers. 

• Full Report: This full report contains a literature review, results of a national scan, major findings from a cross-site analysis, and implications at the program, policy, and systems levels.
• Summary of Key Findings: This summary of key findings highlights some of the major takeaways from the cross-site analysis and puts forth a call to action. 
• Brochure: This condensed 4 page summary provides an overview of the study findings.