Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program

The Stein Tikun Olam Early Connections Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles supports the emotional health of babies, young children, and their families. We focus on:

Building strong, caring relationships—the key to helping babies grow and develop
Helping young children and families thrive, even when going through stressful experiences
Respecting the culture, values, and perspectives of every family

The program is growing, to eventually serve all babies and young children, from before birth through age 3, who receive specialty medical care at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Our Early Connections team provides tiers of intervention depending on needs:

Universal prevention interventions include:

Screening for social-emotional wellbeing through interviews with parents and caregivers, and a parent questionnaire
Meeting with an infant mental health specialist to discuss the child’s functioning and family’s needs
Parent education materials
Children’s books

Targeted interventions include:

Parenting groups addressing common early developmental, attachment, and parenting challenges
Home visiting and/or telehealth services for families of young children navigating the transition home from the hospital following an inpatient stay
Psychological support for pregnant individuals and their families during high-risk prenatal medical appointments
Parent navigator services to support families in linking to early intervention services post-discharge from the hospital

Clinical interventions include:

Embedded psychologists in medical units and clinics who provide infant-parent psychotherapy and collaborate with interdisciplinary team members to support child and family wellbeing. These services include:

- Addressing the impact of pediatric medical traumatic stress on child, parent, and their developing relationship
- Supporting parents in understanding their baby’s cues and behaviors, and discussing strategies for soothing
- Promoting joy and connection in the parent-child relationship
- Addressing parental mental health concerns that may impact parenting
- Providing outpatient infant and early childhood mental health services
- Providing perinatal mental health psychiatry and psychotherapy services to parents during pregnancy and the baby’s first year of life

The Early Connections program also provides training for health and mental health professionals to understand and support the unique emotional and developmental needs of infants and young children. Training initiatives include:

Foundations of Infant Mental Health training offered to all staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Toolkit for primary care physicians being developed
Infant Mental Health Training Academy, a year-long, in depth experience for interdisciplinary staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles