Infant-Family and Early Childhood Developmental and Mental Health Intervention

The mission of our infant/family and early childhood intervention program is to support families in building resilience in infants and young children with special needs due to biological and/or psychosocial circumstance. This is accomplished through service delivery, workforce development, research, and policy.   Recent infant brain research has validated the impact of the early caregiving environment on parent/child relationships, the regulation of behavior and the trajectory of development.   Our program outreaches to families with infants and young children who have developmental delays and disabilities, chronic illness, perinatal drug exposure, or experience out of home placement, domestic violence or the stresses of poverty.  We collaborate with community health, mental health, public health, Head Start, early education and care, early intervention, and foster care to build an infant-family and early childhood system of care in Los Angeles County. 

Programs, Collaborations and Initiatives

Service Delivery

• Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program
• Early Childhood Mental Health Programs
• Early Head Start/Head Start Mental Health consultation with parents and staff

Training/Workforce Development

• Birth to Five Mental Health Core Training Initiative for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinicians
• Early Head Start/ Head Start: Staff training on Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health
• Interdisciplinary training in early assessment and identification of autism and other developmental disabilities

Current Projects

DC:0 - 5 Chart Review (PI: Marian Williams, Co-Investigator: Tiffany Vo, Data
Analyst/Statistician: Bryan Lei)

MRI of Newborns and Youth (PI; Mimi Kim, Co-Investigator: Elizabeth Campbell,
Mitchell Geffner, Michael Goran, Megan Herting, Darryl Hwang, Joyce Javier, Shan Luo,
Christine Mirzaian, Sharon O’Neil, Vidya Rajagopalan, Darby Saxbe, Beth Smith, Jessica
Lee Wisnowski, Edwin Deras, Angelo Brendan, Norma Martinez Castaneda, Data
Analyst/Statistician: Benjamin Hoffman-Kipp, Regulatory Personnel: Jocelyn Perez)

A Patient Navigation Model to Improve Follow Up After NICU Discharge (PI: Christine
Mirzaian; Co-Investigators: Douglas Vanderbilt, Michele Kiepke, Beth Smith)

Research Network on Toxic Stress and Health (PI: Pat Leavitt; Co-Investigators: Suzanne
Robers, Barbara Thompson, Data Analyst/Statistician: Maja Mataric, RA: Nicole Fonacier,
Kameelah Gateau, Dianna Guerrero Jimenez, Evelyn Romo)

Improving High Risk Infant Follow-Up after Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge: A
Quality Improvement Initiative (PI: Sahar Panjwani, Faculty Advisor: Joyce Koh, Co-
Investigators: Kelly Luciani, Christine Mirzaian, Data Collector/Manager: Alejandra
Mallorga Hernandez)

Improving health during transition and follow-up of premature infants with a virtual
transition-to-home program (PI: Molly Easterli, co-Investigators: Ashwini Lakshmanan,
Christine Mirazian, Douglas Vanderbilt)

Validation of the Online Toddler Autism and Development Adaptive Screener (TADA)
(PI: Irina Quebles)

A Pilot Study of the Incredible Years Parents and Babies Program In Primary Care (PI:
Karen Camer, Co-Investigators: Joyce Javier, Data Analyst/Statistician: Amila Adili,
Wendy Mack, RAL Kyra Aligaen, Dylan Mesina, Research Coordinator: Jasmine
Raymundo, Research Intern: Katrina Alcantara)

Publications

Yeo, E. N., Young, N. D., Cleveland, J. C., 3rd, Simon, T. D., Vanderbilt, D. L., Espinoza,
J., Mirzaian, C. B., & Alderete, T. L. (2025). High-Risk Infant Developmental Outcome
Is Associated with Medical Complexity and Neighborhood Opportunity. The Journal of
pediatrics, 279, 114433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114433

Ke, J.C. Rezvan, P.H., Vanderbilt, D., Mirzaian, C.B., Deavenport-Saman, A., Smith, B.A., (2024). Similar early intervention referral rates following in-person administration of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 4th Edition versus Telehealth Administration of the Developmental Assessment in Young Children, 2nd Edition in the high-risk infant population, Early human development, 190, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2024.105971.

Kretch, K. S., Dusing, S. C., Harbourne, R. T., Hsu, L. Y., Sargent, B. A., & Willett, S. L. (2024). Early Mobility and Crawling: Beliefs and Practices of Pediatric Physical Therapists in the United States. Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association, 36(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1097/PEP.0000000000001063

Mirzaian, C. B., Solomon, O., Setaghiyan, H., Hudson, S., Goldfarb, F., Eaton, G. L., Vasquez, R., Babb, L., & Yin, L. (2023). Enhancing access to early intervention by including parent navigators with lived experience in a pediatric medical home. Families, systems & health : the journal of collaborative family healthcare, 10.1037/fsh0000864. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000864

Neel, M. L., Bora, S., Brachio, S. S., Duncan, A., Vanderbilt, D., Benninger, K., Kendrick-Allwood, S., Maitre, N. L., & High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Networking Group (2024). Challenges and Opportunities in High-Risk Infant Follow-Up: Progress from the 2022 Networking Session at the Pediatric Academic Societies. The Journal of pediatrics, 270, 113971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.113971

Richter, M., Angell, A., Kellner, P., Smith, J., & Pineda, R. (2024). Infant and Parent Outcomes Related to NICU-Based Co-occupational Engagement. OTJR : occupation, participation and health, 44(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492231160690

Williams, M. E.,Rediker, A. M., & Mulrooney, K. (2023). Clinical use and implementation of the diagnostic classification of mental health and developmental disorders of infancy and early childhood. Infant mental health journal, 44, 362–371. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22054

Lakatos, P. P., Rodas, N. V., Matic, T., Williams, M. E., Samora, L. L., & Carson, M. C. (2024). Providing Continuity in Infant Mental Health Services for Medically Fragile Infants and Their Families. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings, 31(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-023-09957-1