Florida Association for Infant Mental Health

FAIMH's mission is to supports the Florida IMH workforce and aims to drive members’ professional development forward! Other states have experienced an important outcome as Endorsement® expands: payers, other providers, and agency directors are better able to appreciate the importance of Infant Mental Health (IMH) when there is an established professional development ladder. In some states, this has even led to better reimbursement rates for Endorsed providers. Michigan’s system is by far the best-developed system in the field of Infant Mental Health. Creating a separate system for Florida has been a tremendous amount of work and the FAIMH Board believes having Florida as part of the international Alliance will help us work more closely with other states in building IMH work. Since Endorsement® is tied to a written set of competencies,(javascript:void(0)) IMH practitioners can now have a very good sense of what trainings/experiences they need and FAIMH works to meet those needs through our Training Academy. Another key to Endorsement® is reflective supervision. Many of most effective interventions in IMH involve reflective process and we believe the emphasis on reflection that the Endorsement® process has will provide more opportunities for groups of FAIMH members to reflect together. The MI-AIMH website has useful information on reflective supervision.(http://mi-aimh.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BPGRSC-20160428-NP-FE.pdf)

Both Neurons to Neighborhoods (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000) and Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation (2015) report there is a critical shortage of well trained professionals who have the knowledge, skills and supervised work experience to promote healthy social and emotional development, and to intervene and treat serious early childhood mental health problems. By engaging in the endorsement system, you will: • Grow and develop as a professional in the rapidly expanding infant and family service field. • Be recognized by employers and peers for having attained a category of competency in culturally sensitive, relationship-based practice that promotes infant mental health. • Become a part of one of the first and most comprehensive international efforts to identify best practice competencies at multiple levels and across disciplines and to offer a pathway for professional development in the infant and family field.

Endorsement® provides a set of competencies (javascript:void(0))for professional development in the infant and family field. Endorsement® assures that persons providing culturally sensitive, relationship-focused services promoting infant mental health meet standards that are approved by a highly recognized professional organization for the discipline of infant mental health. Endorsement® recognizes the importance of continuing education and training for professionals in the infant and family field. Those who earn the Endorsement® demonstrate their commitment to this principle as they provide services that promote infant mental health with a high level of quality and integrity. It is a process that supports the development and recognition of infant and family professionals within an organized system of culturally sensitive, relationship-based learning and work experiences that promote infant mental health.

As of August 15, 2022, the Florida Infant Mental Health Endorsement® is now open to the public. Any professional (degreed and non-degreed) who resides in Florida and has experience working with, or on behalf of, infants and toddlers, in the context of their relationship with their parents and or other caregivers, and who meets the educational, training, and reflective supervision requirements (javascript:void(0))as specified for each type of Endorsement® are welcome to apply for Endorsement®.

No. The four categories of Endorsement®(javascript:void(0)) include a full range from non-degreed to post-Masters degreed professionals. You should apply at the category for which you have earned the required degree and meet all requirements. Professionals at each of these categories provide equally valuable contributions to the well-being of Florida’s infants, toddlers and their families.

Endorsement® by FAIMH verifies that an applicant has attained a level of education as specified; participated in specialized in-service trainings; worked with guidance from mentors or supervisors; and acquired knowledge to promote the delivery of high quality, culturally sensitive and relationship-focused services to infants, toddlers, and young children; parents and families; and other caregivers. University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s Infant-Family Mental Health Certificate (https://www.usfsp.edu/infant-family-mental-health/about-the-ifmh-graduate-certificate/)is a fully online graduate certificate program designed for students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, social work, criminology, human development, early childhood education, nursing and other social science-related fields. This credential provides broad coverage of theoretical/conceptual and applied issues necessary for understanding infant-parent relationships and infant and toddler social and emotional development. Certificate holders will find that their coursework included topics relevant to the Competencies in many of the eight knowledge and skills areas as defined for the Infant Family Specialist (Category II) Endorsement® . All of that information is also important for Infant Mental Health Specialists and Mentors (Categories III and IV); however, those categories have additional requirements that are not included.

Please contact the Endorsement Coordinator at endorsement@faimh.org.(mailto:endorsement@faimh.org?subject=Inquiry from Website) Consistent and accurate guidance about FAIMH Endorsement is best sought directly from the FAIMH Endorsement Coordinator or your assigned Endorsement Advisor.