Mental Health Trainings Provide Much-Needed Tools for Parents & Providers

“I have loved this series. It is so needed for our children.”

Those powerful words from a local child care provider came in response to the mental health trainings facilitated by the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Coalition. Since 2020, the trainings have reached 800 educators and families across Milwaukee, creating a profound impact on both the ECE sector and the children it serves.

Background on the Trainings

The trainings arose in response to a critical need during the height of the pandemic. Educators began to notice that the children in their care were in need of additional supports to meet their heightened mental health needs – and that providers, themselves, required support as well.

Enter the ECE Coalition. Upon hearing about the widespread need, this diverse group of providers, organizations, experts and leaders made it their goal to help. Ultimately, they raised funds from public and philanthropic sources and identified Wellpoint (formerly SaintA) to deliver much-needed trainings on trauma, stress and regulation.

The initial trainings, which began in late 2020, were tailored for providers, with three virtual sessions followed by an in-person event, where providers received curated resources and materials to apply what they’d learned. After the success of these initial sessions, which reached 200 educators, the trainings were expanded, ultimately serving 150 more.

The trainings were also offered in an abbreviated format for families in community settings – such as the COA Youth & Family Centers, Acelero, Bay View Community Center, and Next Door – and funded with support from Mental Health America of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Coalition for Children’s Mental Health. Thanks to some partners, who declined their host stipend in order to buy more at-home resource kits, along with staff from partner organizations who learned how to deliver the trainings themselves, they far surpassed the goal of 300 families, ultimately reaching 450!

Feedback from Providers

Now, initial surveys from these providers and families, conducted by Milwaukee Succeeds, are showing just how influential these trainings have been.

For providers, responses to the training have been overwhelmingly positive, with nearly all respondents agreeing that that the sessions increased their knowledge, understanding and capacity to support children’s mental health and emotional well-being. In fact, 100% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that they can take what they’ve learned and use it to enhance their classroom or program.

“Thank you very much for providing us with these tools to manage stress in children and for making us understand that children with self-regulation come from educators with self-regulation,” one provider said.

The tools, in particular, were identified as a valuable resource, followed by the hands-on demonstrations. Additional comments from providers centered heavily on gratitude, with participants thanking organizers for the experience and expressing how much they’ve learned.

“I really enjoyed these trainings and feel that the information is pertinent!!” added one such participant. “Thank you for all you do!”

Feedback from Parents

Feedback from parents mirrored that of providers, with heavily positive responses and nearly all respondents agreeing that it increased their knowledge and ability to support their children.

Parents were particularly excited to see demonstrations of various techniques and strategies, as well as learning more about the brain and stress responses. Finding ways to release feelings positively and simple tools for making strong connections both came up as valuable lessons which they could take home to their families.

Once again, when given the opportunity to provide additional comments, “thank you” was the most common answer, followed by “training was great” and “enjoyed participating.”

“Thank you for providing fantastic tools to help us regulate our emotions!” added one such grateful parent.