Eighteen new chapters have been added to the 2000 edition of this valuable Handbook, which serves as a core text for students and experienced professionals who are interested in the health and well being of young children. It serves as a comprehensive reference for graduate students, advanced trainees, service providers, and policy makers in such diverse fields as child care, early childhood education, child health, and early intervention programs for children with developmental disabilities and children in high risk environments. This book will be of interest to a broad range of disciplines including psychology, child development, early childhood education, social work, pediatrics, nursing, child psychiatry, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, and social policy. A scholarly overview of the underlying knowledge base and practice of early childhood intervention, it is unique in its balance between breadth and depth and its integration of the multiple dimensions of the field.

This report examines the efforts made in Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to develop mental health systems of early identification and intervention for children from birth to age 5. While each state is in a different stage of development, together they provide a picture of progress and opportunities for national change in this evolving area of health care. The study focuses on the process of change and identifies common strategies for achieving innovation. State profiles, examples of major initiatives, and descriptions of exemplary practices illustrate ways that states can improve services and policies. Conclusions underscore the value of articulating a national vision of comprehensive infant and early childhood developmental and mental health systems of care, in which child and family well-being are promoted and needs are identified and treated as early as possible in life.