F25-100 The Basics of Behavior: Strategies for Consulting with Early Childhood Classrooms
Total Credits: 3 Category I CEs
- Categories:
- 100 Children & Adolescents | New
- Instructor:
- Dr. LaTrice L. Dowtin, Ph.D., LCPC, NCSP, RPT-S
- Course Levels:
- Intermediate
- Duration:
- 3 Hours 15 Minutes
- Target Audience:
- Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists
Description
Early childhood classrooms allow young children to grow, learn, and thrive when teacher and childcare providers are equipped with the resources they need for themselves and the children in their care. Research underscores the significant benefits of ECMHC, including improvements in children's behavioral outcomes and social-emotional competence (Perry et al., 2010). When implemented intentionally, ECMHC fosters positive interactions, enhances classroom climate, and reduces externalizing behaviors such as aggression and defiance (Sheridan et al., 2006). Moreover, recent studies highlight the critical role of ECMHC in preventing preschool expulsion—an issue that disproportionately affects children of the global majority and remains a violation of federal and state protections, despite its persistent occurrence (Schoch et al., 2024).
Importantly, integrating a focus on social-emotional development and relationship-building with teachers enhances the effectiveness of ECMHC, which translates to improvements in childhood behaviors. As Dr. Dowtin emphasizes, building trusting, connected relationships with educators is essential for creating supportive classroom environments that promote children's mental health aimed to reduce the likelihood of exclusionary discipline practices and promote healthy child development from a trauma-informed lens.
This 3-hour interactive workshop is designed for social workers and mental health providers who want to gain additional skills and strategies for early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) with classrooms with children up to age 6 years old. The session emphasizes the importance of social and emotional development in young children, strategies to strengthen teacher-child relationships, and effective ECMHC practices that can contribute to reducing externalizing behaviors and addressing disparities in preschool expulsions, with special attention on historically and presently marginalized children. The presenter offers social workers and mental health providers a research-informed, practical framework to enhance their ECMHC practices. Emphasizing social-emotional development, culturally responsive strategies, and relationship-building, attendees will leave equipped to support classroom environments that promote equity, reduce problematic behaviors, and prevent unnecessary classroom or school exclusions.
This workshop is in accordance with and compliance with the NASW Standards with a focus on service, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, competence and social workers’ ethical responsibilities to clients, as professionals, to the social work profession, and to the broader society.
This workshop is in compliance with the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners’ COMAR 10.42.03.06.A(5) and with the District of Columbia Board of Social Work 17-70-7008.4.
Instructor
Dr. LaTrice L. Dowtin, Ph.D., LCPC, NCSP, RPT-S Related Seminars and Products
Dr. LaTrice L. Dowtin is a Black cisgender woman who believes in the ongoing pursuit of humility and social justice. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, licensed clinical professional counselor, nationally certified school psychologist, and Registered Play Therapist-SupervisorTM, who specializes in perinatal and infant mental health (IMH) and trauma populations with a special focus on culturally, racially, and linguistically marginalized people of the global majority. Dr. Dowtin is a native African American Vernacular English speaker, fluent in U.S. English, and is proficient in American Sign Language.
Over the course of the past 19 years, she has carved out a career as an early childhood specialist in the area of social–emotional development for young children and families. She has held such positions as preschool teacher; infant care specialist; Center Director of an early care program; early childhood mental health consultant; early childhood trauma and family therapist; adjunct faculty in an early childhood teacher education program; Deaf infant–parent support group facilitator; school psychologist; therapist; and invited presenter at University of California San Francisco, Bowie State University, and Cornell University.
Dr. Dowtin was educated at Bowie State University (BSU), which is Maryland's oldest Historically Black University, where the focus of the intersection of race, culture, and identity is deeply embedded throughout the curriculum. Following school psychology and counselor training at BSU, Dr. Dowtin continued learning clinical psychology at Gallaudet University where she had the opportunity to train at Children’s National in their child development clinic conducting consultations in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and neonatal follow-up assessments for a predominantly Black community. Dr. Dowtin's additional training at the Lourie Center for Children's Social Emotional Wellness afforded her the opportunity to support children and families with severe trauma backgrounds while working with children and families at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore City, Maryland. She then completed a clinical psychology doctoral internship at Tulane University School of Medicine with a focus on families and infant mental health for trauma survivors in the city of New Orleans. Following her internship, Dr. Dowtin completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University in the NICU focusing on perinatal and infant mental health.
Agenda & Learning Objectives
AGENDA:
9:50 am – 10:00 am Log on
10:00 am – 1:15 pm
There will be one 15-minute break.
Introduction & Objectives - 15 minutes
Welcome, overview of workshop goals, participant introductions
Research Foundations of ECMHC - 30 minutes
Overview of benefits
Disparities & Legal Context - 25 minutes
Discussion of disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates for young children
Exploration of legal protections
Strategies for Relationship Building - 30 minutes
Techniques for strengthening teacher-child and ECMHC relationships
Lessons from lived experience
Developing Classroom Interventions - 30 minutes
Collaborative development of socioemotional strategies to reduce challenging behaviors
Action Planning & Connection Strategies - 40 minutes
Participants create personalized plans to foster connected relationships with staff
Conclusions - 10 minutes
Resources
General Q & A and discussion
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:
-
Discuss at least three research-based benefits of early childhood mental health consultation and its impact on reducing externalizing behaviors
-
Identify two key disparities faced by children of the global majority regarding preschool suspension and expulsion
-
Implement at least two specific strategies to strengthen teacher-child relationships and improve classroom social-emotional climates through ECMHC practices
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Apply one evidence-based technique to collaboratively develop classroom interventions that support social-emotional development and behavior management
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Create an actionable plan with at least three concrete steps to foster connected relationships with teachers and staff, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of mental health consultation.
Bibliography & References
BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES
Edgoose, J. Y., Quiogue, M., & Sidhar, K. (2019). How to identify, understand, and unlearn implicit bias in patient care. Family practice management, 26(4), 29-33.
https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2019/0700/p29.html
Horen, N. M., Sayles, J., McDermott, K., Sippel-Klug, K., Drake-Croft, J., & Long, T. (2024). Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) and early childhood intervention: Intentional integration. International journal of environmental research and public health, 21(7), 870.
Perry, D. F., Allen, M. D., Brennan, E. M., & Bradley, J. R. (2010). The evidence base for mental health consultation in early childhood settings: A research synthesis addressing children's behavioral outcomes. Early education and development, 21(6), 795-824.
Schoch, A. D., Tidus, K. M., Catherine, E., Perry, D. F., Duran, F., & Rabinovitz, L. (2024). Essential elements of infant and early childhood mental health consultation: Inside the black box of preschool expulsion prevention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 66, 24-33.
Sevon, M. A., & Dowtin, L. L. (2020). “They Tested with Stress”: Solving Racial Injustice in Assessment by Acknowledging Adverse Childhood Experiences. In Agenda for Social Justice (pp. 75-86). Policy Press.
Sheridan, S. M., Clarke, B. L., Knoche, L. L., & Pope Edwards, C. (2006). The effects of conjoint behavioral consultation in early childhood settings. Early Education and Development, 17(4), 593-617.
Course Completion & CE Information
Category I Maryland BSWE Requirement
The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education programs. This workshop qualifies for 3 Category I Continuing Education Units. The Office of Continuing Professional Education is also authorized by the Maryland Board of Psychologists and the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors to sponsor Category A continuing professional education.
ASWB Information
University of Maryland School of Social Work Office of Continuing Professional Education, #1611, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 2/11/2024-2/11/2027.
To receive ACE credit, full attendance is required; no partial credits will be given for partial attendance.
Certificate Access
To access the evaluation and certificate, click on the orange certificate button in your CPE account. Once you complete the evaluation, access to the certificate will be available.
Live Interactive Webinars (Cat I) and Live Webinars (Cat II) - Allow up to 30 minutes post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate.
In Person Trainings - Please allow five (5) business days post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate.
Please refer to the tab "Live Interactive Webinar Policies & FAQs" for UMSSW Office of CPE policies regarding all live interactive webinar related matters. Contact our office at cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu for more information.
Evaluation
Participants will have access to the evaluation after attendance has been verified. Evaluations will be available for one (1) week after the workshop has ended.
After one (1) week, participants will no longer have access to the evaluation and will have to contact CPE about reactivation.
Target Audience
Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists
We welcome anyone interested in the topic!
Live Interactive Webinar Platforms
LIVE INTERACTIVE WEBINAR PLATFORMS
The Office of Continuing Professional Education hosts Live Interactive Webinars through Zoom. This platform offers a high quality and user-friendly webinar platform for our registrants.
System Requirements:
- Operating Systems: Windows XP or higher; MacOS 9 or higher; Android 4.0 or higher.
- Internet Browser: Google Chrome; Firefox 10.0 or higher.
Our system is not compatible with the Safari web browser.
- Broadband Internet Connection: Cable, High-speed DSL and any other medium that is internet accessible.
**Please have your device charging at all times to ensure that your device does not lose power during the webinar.
Course Interaction Requirements:
To participate in Live Interactive Webinars, you MUST have a device that allows you to view the presentation on screen and hear the instructor at all times. We do not allow participants to call-in from their phones or mobile devices and solely listen to the presentation. Participation in Live Interactive Webinars is mandatory.
Our webinar policies can be found on our website by clicking here.
Webinar Policies & FAQs
Click The Link to View The Webinar Policies & FAQs
https://umbsswcpe.ce21.com/Page/live-interactive-webinar-procedures-policies-4129
Code of Conduct
The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work adheres to the NASW Code of Ethics. This policy is to ensure that the training environment for social work professionals remains respectful, productive, and conducive to learning. Disruptive behavior that interferes with the learning process, disrupts the training experience for others, or undermines the integrity of the program will not be tolerated.
Expectations for Participant Engagement:
In alignment with the NASW Code of Ethics and the University of Maryland Baltimore Code of Conduct, participants are expected to demonstrate professionalism, which includes respecting confidentiality, maintaining a collaborative and respectful tone, and contributing positively to the group dynamic. Disclosures made during the training (e.g., case studies or personal reflections) must be handled with care and in accordance with ethical and legal guidelines.
All participants in the training program are expected to:
- Engage actively in the learning process and show respect for the opinions and contributions of others.
- Demonstrate professionalism in both attitude and behavior, maintaining respect for instructors, peers, and the training environment.
- Maintain open communication by expressing concerns or disagreements constructively and respectfully.
- Follow the guidelines and expectations provided by instructors and facilitators.
- Support a collaborative learning environment where all participants feel valued and safe to contribute.
Instructors and CPE staff reserve the right to dismiss participants who do not adhere to ethical/professional principles and standards. If removed, CEs will be adjusted to reflect the time attended, unless otherwise specified.
ADA Accommodations
If you are requesting ADA accommodations, please contact our office via email at least two weeks prior to the workshop date. Requests after that date may not be fulfilled.
Our email address is cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu.
Late Fees and Refunds
The base price is $70, which includes CE credit.
Cancellations: **ALL cancellations will be subjected to a $35.00 administration fee.** To be eligible for a refund or CPE account credit, cancellations must be made at least 24 hours before the workshop.
For more information, please read the general policies on our website.