Promoting Equity and Social Justice in Social Work Education around Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH)

While infant and early childhood mental health (IEMCH) is an interdisciplinary field, in the United States social workers make up a large portion of the workforce as the primary providers and supervisors of IECMH treatment services. Social workers are employed at the community, state, and national levels for advocacy and leadership roles on behalf of young children and families.

Social work deans, faculty, and doctoral students are invited to participate. In this day-long institute, we will discuss how to infuse the values of diversity, equity, and social justice into IECMH and explore how to utilize the CSWE curricular guide on that topic. In the morning, we will be joined by two distinguished speakers: Dr. Marva Lewis will present on racial equity in IECMH and Dr. Nucha Isarowong will present on the Diversity-Informed Tenets for Work with Infants, Toddlers, and Families. In the afternoon, small group sessions will focus on specific topics of interest, including creating an IECMH social work course, utilizing the FAN, and strategies for embedding IECMH principles in bachelor’s programs.

Social Work CEUs will be provided for participation.