Ruth Young Center for Maryland

The Institute's Parent, Infant, and Early Childhood Team, through their work with the Maryland Pyramid Model, has developed free online courses. Funded by the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood, the courses offer teachers, childcare providers, mental health consultants, and clinicians strategies for supporting social emotional competence among the infants and toddlers in early childhood education settings. Access the free courses!

The PIEC, comprised of national experts in the fields of developmental psychology, maternal and child health policy, program development, trauma, evidence-based interventions (EBPs), and research and evaluation, partners with content experts as well as the National Technical Assistance Network to address EBP implementation and outcomes, mental health financing, homelessness and substance use in transition-age youth who are pregnant and parenting, early childhood workforce development, and intimate partner violence. All PIEC projects include robust evaluation and data collection; the team also manages and analyzes two state-wide electronic databases used in a continuous quality improvement process to inform early childhood program development and workforce support.

The PIEC team regularly contributes to federal and Maryland state quarterly and annual reports, policy and position papers; publishes in scientific publications; and regularly presents and lectures both locally and nationally.

Current Work Includes:

• Program Direction, Consultation & Evaluation for two Maryland early childhood SAMHSA-funded System of Care grants (Southern Maryland BRIDGE in Charles, St Mary’s & Calvert Counties and E-SMART in Carrol County)
• State-Wide Training & Reflective Coaching on Pyramid Model Competencies for Early Intervention and other Early Childhood settings
• Support to and evaluation of Maryland State Department of Education Funded State Network of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations (ECMHC)
• PROPEL: In partnership with B’More for Healthy Babies Baltimore City’s PSEP Coalition, develop and facilitate focus groups with city-based parents with an incarceration history and/or substance use history
• University of Maryland School of Social Work Parenting Initiative: Parenting Research, Education & Policy (PREP) Initiative
• Behavioral Health Curriculum Development (BHCDI): SAMHSA-funded project enhancing behavioral health curriculum in social work master’s programs
• Map to Success: HHS-funded project that connects pregnant and parenting youth in Baltimore City to parent-specific services and increases collaboration across providers
• B’more SUCCEEDS: SAMHSA-funded project that improves services for Baltimore City youth who are homeless/housing unstable, substance using and possibly pregnant/parenting

For more information, contact:

Kate Sweeney, LCSW-C, MSW Program Director | ksweeney@ssw.umaryland.edu

Margo Candelaria, Ph.D. Research and Evaluation Director | mcandelaria@ssw.umaryland.edu

Request for weekly IECMHC office hours: Email request to akane@ssw.umaryland.edu