14th Annual Early Childhood Mental Health Conference – We Can’t Wait!

Re-imagining Prevention and Early Intervention in Communities of Hope

September 28-30, 2023

Town and Country Hotel, 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108

 Continuing Education:  Up to 16.25 Contact Hours Available

Course Description:

This 14th Annual Early Childhood Mental Health Conference will inspire attendees to re-imagine prevention and early intervention and shift the focus to the role of positive experiences in human development.  Distinguished speakers will highlight community driven, evidence-based interventions that have been developed, researched, implemented, and are making a difference, including Zero to Thrive from Michigan and the HOPE programs from Chicago.  These programs, some of which have been implemented here in San Diego, promote healthy child development (0-5) and emphasize strengths, positivity, and hope, rather than deficits. 

In addition to exploring early childhood development, culturally informed, evidence-based practices, and advances in early education programs, attendees will be able to examine ways that our communities and systems of care can better ensure diversity, equity, and access to care so that children have more positive experiences, and that all families have support to nurture and celebrate their strengths.

Finally, we are excited to offer a Hybrid Event this year!  Live sessions will be in-person, in San Diego and a A networking reception is planned on Thursday evening.  Keynote sessions and selected breakout sessions will simultaneously be offered on Zoom for virtual attendees.  

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be able to:

  • Review the neurobiological nature of the developing brain and recognize how it is directly shaped by positive, interpersonal experiences
  • Identify best practices in socio-emotional support and strategies for cultivating positive experiences that extend to the home, schools, and community
  • Create partnerships among healthcare, education, behavioral health, and child welfare professionals to create communities of hope for infants, children and families
  • Discover ways to build workforce capacity and community involvement to expand diversity-informed strategies that support infants, children, and families

Target Audience:

The target audience includes those involved in providing assessment, treatment, education, support, and advocacy for children and families. Attendees will include psychiatrists, pediatricians, marriage family therapists, social workers, psychologists, mental health workers, substance abuse and addiction professionals, counselors and case managers, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, teachers, educators, child welfare workers, early childhood education providers, childcare specialists, mental health administrators and other healthcare and educational providers.