Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program

At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, we know that early childhood experiences matter. They shape a baby’s brain development, emotional growth, and long-term well-being. When families and young children navigate challenges, such as premature birth, medical complications, or stressful events, these experiences can disrupt the critical bond between parents and infants, impacting the child’s ability to thrive.

For a decade, the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative has been providing infant-family mental health care for infants and families in critical care settings and for those with the highest levels of need. The Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program will expand those services to all patients from birth to 3-years-old. This program will be one of the first-of-its-kind in the nation to provide universal, hospital-wide infant-family mental health services. 

The Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program will support CHLA’s youngest patients and their families to promote early family relationships. By providing early mental health intervention for young children receiving medical care at CHLA, we will help them navigate the emotional challenges of their health conditions, prevent more significant mental health issues, and reduce the need for intensive services later.

The goals of the program are to strengthen early relationships, foster emotional security between caregivers and their children, and ensure that infants and toddlers feel safe, nurtured, and supported while promoting their developmental and behavioral health from the very start.

What Is Infant Mental Health (IMH) and How Can Families Help Nurture It?

Infant mental health (IMH) refers to a child's ability to express emotions, form relationships, explore, and learn from birth to 3-years-old. This development is shaped by family, culture, and the social environment. Nurturing, protective, stable, and consistent relationships are essential for childhood mental health and significantly shape emotional development.

Early relational health, which is the emotional connection between infants and their caregivers, helps children regulate emotions, build resilience, and form social connections. Strong parent-child relationships also benefit parents by increasing confidence, reducing stress, and helping them better respond to their child’s needs. In contrast, when stressful experiences or difficult circumstances hamper parent-child relationships, both infant mental health and caregiver well-being can be impacted.

Social and non-medical determinants of health, such as access to health care, socioeconomic stability, and cultural expectations, also play a key role in shaping a child’s social-emotional development. By strengthening early relationships, families can build healthier communities, reduce isolation, and support their children’s long-term well-being.

Ways the Early Connections Program Supports Families

Our team members help families address a wide range of early childhood challenges, including:

  • Attachment and Socialization: Difficulty bonding with caregivers, interacting with adults, trouble forming peer relationships, or challenges with separations
  • Emotional Regulation: Tantrums, excessive crying, withdrawal, or aggression
  • Daily Routines: Difficulties with sleeping, eating, toileting, or transitions
  • Stressful Experiences: Coping with hospitalizations, medical procedures, or other stressful events impacting emotional well-being

For parents and caregivers of young children, our team members provide support for:

  • Developing a strong bond with their young child
  • Managing worries about their child’s health or development
  • Navigating stressful experiences, such as their child’s medical diagnosis, hospitalizations, and procedures that impact their emotional well-being
  • Increasing parents’ confidence and addressing feelings of guilt or depression
  • Managing and processing feelings related to their experiences during pregnancy, delivery, and the post-partum period that impact their relationship with their child
  • Building confidence in dealing with childcare routines (i.e., feeding, sleep, school drop-off, etc.)
  • Understanding and responding to the cues of a child with developmental delays

The CHLA Difference: Pioneering Infant-Family Mental Health Care

At CHLA, a multidisciplinary team of mental health providers works together to provide comprehensive care for children and families, making early intervention and family-centered care a standard part of our approach to health care. The goal of the new program at CHLA will be to expand infant-family mental health preventative care to all families of children ages birth to 3-years-old. This innovative child health model will serve as a national blueprint for integrating early relational health into children’s hospitals and ensure that every child receives the support they need.

Learn more about the comprehensive mental health care offered through our Behavioral Health Institute.

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