Letter from Board President

2018: Our new CT-AIMH Board President extends a warm welcome to all of our new and returning members!

Greetings Members,

We are beginning another great year with the Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health (CT-AIMH). We continue the journey we began in 2004 to embed Infant Mental Health (IMH) into Connecticut programs and systems and to promote the IMH competencies that lead to Endorsement in Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®. Endorsement® is a professional recognition for all those that comprise the multi-disciplined workforce that supports infants, young children and their families in Connecticut.
 

CT-AIMH is very active with a wide range of leadership, policy, professional development, and partnership initiatives. Among the many highlights of the past year is our Committee work: the Policy Committee prioritized CT-AIMH support for the Earned Family Leave legislation and began strategic meetings around Medicaid reimbursement for infant mental health services; the Education and Promotion Committee developed ideas for new materials to help define Infant Mental Health and other professional development resources; and the Professional Development and Advisory Committee has continued to work on projects such as the Trauma Training Needs Assessment Report, on developing and offering a multitude of audience-specific Infant Mental Health training series , and on planning for our two annual CT-AIMH conferences.
 

Other exciting initiatives include our pilot of the Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® for providers who are applying infant and early childhood principles in their work with children ages 3-6 and their families. We hope to complete the pilot in early 2019, and start to offer this new Endorsement® in late 2019. Also, watch for the course in Infant Mental Health that CT-AIMH is helping to develop for the new Bachelor’s Degree Program in Early Childhood Studies and Infant/Toddler Mental Health at Central Connecticut State University.
 

CT-AIMH is a founding member of the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, which is a national and international non-profit that was newly founded in 2016. CT-AIMH currently has a member on the Alliance Board of Directors who serves as its President and our work with the Alliance continues, as we communicate monthly, and meet together with other national leaders from the Alliance annually. Also, newsworthy, CT-AIMH was represented again this year in presentations and posters by our members, at the World Association for Infant Mental Health.
 

As I take on this new role, I would especially like to thank our outgoing President, Melissa Mendez, for her significant contributions and tireless work on behalf of CT-AIMH. I also want to thank our Board of Directors, our Executive Director, Heidi Maderia, and our contractual staff for their many contributions and achievements on behalf of Connecticut’s young children and their families.
 

We know we are not alone on this journey! We work in partnership with Connecticut organizations and you, our members, who share our mission and vision. We are profoundly grateful for your involvement in CT-AIMH. We thank those who support, fund, and donate to aid in this work and all funding and donations are truly appreciated. I invite you to share your ideas, thoughts, and feedback with us.  I look forward to hearing from you, and to seeing you at our upcoming meetings, trainings, conferences, and events.

Sincerely,

Susan Vater
CT-AIMH Board President