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Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities Home Page
Early Childhood Mental Health Program
Contact Information
275 E. Main Street 4WG
Frankfort, KY 40621
Phone: (502) 564-4456
Fax: (502) 564-9010
Hours: Monday–Friday
8:00 am–4:30 pm ET


Crisis Lines by County
Hotlines/Other Contacts
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Contact Us

DBHDID
Brittany Barber
(502) 782-7999

Department for
Public Health

Kristen Martin
(502) 564-3756 x 4361

Program History and Description

Kentucky's Early Childhood Mental Health Program (ECMHP) was created in state fiscal year 2003 as a component of a large, statewide early childhood development initiative, KIDS NOW, the majority of which is now administered by the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood (see Related Links).

ECMHP is co-administered by the Children’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Branch within the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) and the Early Childhood Promotion Branch within the Department for Public Health (DPH) through a Memorandum of Agreement.

In turn, DBHDID contracts with the 14 Regional Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) for program implementation.

Program Goals

The primary goal of ECMHP is to provide:

  • Program and child-level consultation on social, emotional and behavioral issues to programs that serve children from birth through age 5.
  • Training on working with young children with social, emotional and behavioral needs and their families, to child-serving agencies and others.
  • Evaluation, assessment, and therapeutic services for children from birth through age 5 and their families.

Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist

The ECMHP supports an Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist staff position in each of the 14 CMHCs. The Specialists' time is devoted solely to their regional ECMHPs and building regional capacity to better meet the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of children from birth through age 5 and their families.

The ECMH Specialists are responsible for ensuring that the program goals are attained at a local level. To obtain more information about your local ECMHP, please use the contacts listed in the Contact Information box.

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