The FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy's contributions to improving mental health supports for Florida's most vulnerable young children have been honored and extended with a three-year grant from the Chicagobased Irving B. Harris Foundation. In the past, the Chicago-based Harris Foundation has supported programs for infant mental health and early childhood training nationally and internationally as part of a large initiative.

The FSU Center's Harris Institute efforts will follow from the Florida Strategic Plan for Infant Mental Health with a focus on training in both inservice and preservice formats statewide to enhance the state's capacity to promote optimal development, prevent social-emotional difficulties, and effectively treat very young children and their families who are in need of intensive parent/child therapy.

The FSU Center is partnering with the LSU Harris Center for Infant Mental Health in New Orleans under the guidance of Dr. Joy Osofsky. As a unique aspect of the program at FSU, practicing therapists will receive training both at the FSU campus and in New Orleans with Dr. Osofsky and her colleagues at the LSU Health Sciences Center.

The FSU Harris Institute has five major goals:

1. Provide leadership for infant mental health research, policy, and professional development throughout the state of Florida, including ongoing review of evidence-based interventions in infant mental health


2. Build a cadre of well-trained infant mental health specialists, including licensed therapists from multiple disciplines


3. Collaborate with the FSU School of Medicine to promote training in infant mental health for medical students and physicians


4. Collaborate with the FSU School of Social Work to include infant mental health training in coursework aimed at young children and families


5. Establish a framework of competencies for Infant Mental Health Specialists in Florida