Minnesota is struggling to meet the growing demand for mental health professionals, particularly in rural parts of the state. In addition to the workforce shortage across the field, the state is lacking children’s mental health professionals who have expertise in early childhood. This shortage has led to long wait times for appointments for young children and their families. 

West Central Initiative has received a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation to recruit students to the field of infant and early childhood mental health. 

Infant and early childhood mental health professionals specialize in working with infants, young children, and their caregivers. 

“Early childhood is the foundation of the rest of a person’s life,” said Nancy Jost, Director of Early Childhood at West Central Initiative. It’s when 80% of the brain is built. It’s crucial that we support parents and caregivers of young children in these most important years.” 

In west central Minnesota, mental health professionals’ availability is stretched, and families are feeling the impact. Agencies that have been able to recruit new staff often find that applicants have little experience and expertise working with young children and their caregivers. Many agencies invest heavily in training, only to have new employees leave after a few months.

The grant will focus on recruiting high school and college students into these fields by educating students on mental health careers that provide services to young children and their caregivers. Recruitment efforts will also include highlighting potential career pathways, education requirements, and the skills required for entering the field.  

“Many students do not realize these career options exist here in our region and exposing students to these careers is the first step in increasing the number of individuals who enter the field,” said Amy Haggerty, recruiter for the early childhood mental health grant. 

The grant also seeks to partner with local college and university programs to help facilitate collaborative recruitment efforts and expand early childhood course offerings. 

Here’s a video to learn more about careers in infant and early childhood mental health.