SUPPORT FOR THE ADULTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN 

IN EARLY CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENTS 
 

Pamela L. Shue, Ed.D, Editor 

Appalachian State University 

 

Along with the hot summer, early childhood education has been a hot topic in many community 

conversations. Throughout the nation there is a teacher shortage in early childhood education. In 

some parts of the United States, especially where I am in North Carolina, we have regions that 

have no licensed childcare programs, we call them childcare deserts. Parents of young children are 

struggling to find quality and affordable care so they can get back to work. The lucky parents have 

found someone to care for their child, others have family, friends, or neighbors. Some parents have 

decided to stay home and care for their children. What is most concerning is the fact that the 

additional funds childcare programs received from the federal government initiative to support 

them during the pandemic are set to end this Fall. Meaning that the extra income these teachers 

have received from these funds will come to an abrupt stop and experts warn that our society may 

experience a mass departure of childcare professionals leaving the field at this time.  

 

This issue of HS Dialog will look at supports for young children and adults that many times are 

offered through a quality childcare program. When adults (parents and caregivers) have strong 

mental, physical, and emotional supports in their own lives, they can often help to provide the 

same supports to young children in their lives. The first article is by a collection of researchers 

from Georgetown University (Tidus, Davis, Perry, Rabinovitz, & Horen, 2022) and examines the 

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) support service. These 

services provide mental health consultants to work with families and adults/early childhood 

professionals to build and promote the social-emotional development of infants and young 

children. The IECMHC is an evidence-based prevention program and has been around for a long 

time. However, these researchers look at the program through a new theory of change lens. The 

theory of change investigates not just that IECMHC has positive outcomes, but asks, what are the 

“mechanisms that cause” this positive change. Whether you are familiar or not with IECMHC, this 

article will prove to provide more information and insight into what causes these outcomes. 

 

The second research article, Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) before age 3: 

Evidence for the Family Map Inventory, studies the validity of an electronic Family Map Inventory 

(FMI) instead of the paper pencil version. They are from the University of Arkansas for Medical 

Sciences (Whiteside-Mansell, McKelvey, Lewis, & Peters, 2022).  Additionally, they answered 

the questions (1) if the electronic FMI was effectively used as an intervention tool, (2) did 

educators use the tool to focus on supporting families related to the constructs in the original 

ACES. As society continues to integrate technology into almost everything we do, using this to 

gather data and identify the correct supports for a parent/family is a much more efficient, effective, 

and familiar pathway to support families. To find the answers to their research questions you will 

need to read the manuscript, I promise it is a good read – lots to learn here. 



 
 

 

 

The final research article, Falling through the Cracks of Early Intervention and Prevention, comes 

from researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago and examines the missed opportunities for 

referring a pregnant woman to a prenatal cessation smoking program (Shenberger & Zinsser, 

2022). Many young women and families receive services through their local health department 

and childcare organizations such as Early Head Start (EHS). Early Head Start is a comprehensive 

program that was developed to support low-income families with children under 3 years of age. 

This manuscript examines a pregnant woman’s challenges to receiving a referral to a smoking 

cessation program but even if a woman receives a referral in some communities there is limited or 

no access to these programs. As I read this article, it makes me wonder what other supports are 

falling through these cracks.  

 

Each of the research articles listed above is followed by an accompanying Research to Practice. 

These manuscripts bring detailed ways for early childhood practitioners to apply the research in 

everyday, early education environments. To our readers, thank you for your dedication to our 

journal, to the field, and to the future of young children.