Making Dollars Follow Sense: Financing Early Childhood Mental Health Services To Promote Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children. Promoting the Emotional Well-Being of Children and Families Policy Paper.

Drawing on lessons from six case studies, this policy paper highlights the most innovative approaches states and communities are currently using to finance preventive and early intervention services as well as more traditional treatment services for young children's mental health. The case studies are based on interviews with policy and program leaders in Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Vermont, as well as the metropolitan areas of San Francisco and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio. The policy brief is presented in five sections. Section 1 of the policy paper provides a "snapshot" of each of the sites as a context for the more specific discussion of funding streams and funding strategies. Section 2 describes the major federal funding streams that are being used to finance early childhood mental health services, highlighting the role of state and private funds. For each funding stream, there is a description of the program, its implications for early childhood mental health, and how the case study sites have or have not used it. Section 3 explores the funding strategies in depth, focusing on the funding mechanisms that states are using to maximize the impact of fiscal resources, as well as the related planning, collaborative, and administrative structures that are emerging to maintain early childhood mental health initiatives. Also discussed are the common challenges that sites have encountered and efforts to address these challenges creatively. Section 4 summarizes the lessons and explores implications for others seeking to develop similar services. Two appendices list key contacts for each site and selected references and resources. (Contains 16 endnotes.) (KB)