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The Children’s Plan (pdf) is a blueprint for how all we can improve the social and emotional development of children and their families. This can be accomplished by engaging children and their families in services early; ensuring systems are collaborating to provide effective and efficient services and meeting the needs of children and their families by focusing on their strengths and abilities.
The Children’s Plan was jointly submitted by nine Commissioners from child-serving agencies in New York State, who each signed off on The Plan and have committed to work towards supporting the social and emotional needs of children and their families.
All child-serving systems work towards supporting and addressing children’s social emotional development and learning. A wide array of professionals, paraprofessionals, parents and youth are involved in promoting children’s emotional wellness. And, when a child’s emotional well-being is challenged, those caring adults share the responsibility of addressing the needs of the child and family, collectively.
The Children’s Plan (pdf) presents a new way of thinking about the social and emotional needs of children and charts a course of action to improve upon the services and supports provided to children and their families in New York State. The Plan was built on the premise that the promotion and maintenance of mental health is a universal concern for all individuals, as it is directly linked to future physical health, well–being, and longevity.
The Plan was developed based on the beliefs that:
The Children’s Plan reflects statewide, shared concerns about the emotional development of each child and the knowledge and perspectives of parents and caregivers, educators, community leaders, youth development experts, youth service providers, advocates and State policy leaders from multiple agencies.
Out of this collective effort, five key themes were identified as areas of focus for change over the next five to ten years.
The Children’s Mental Health Act of 2006, authorized the development of the "Children’s Mental Health Plan". In the spring of 2007, a workgroup was established within the Office of Mental Health to seek input from stakeholders on a process for developing the Final Plan. From this, a draft Preliminary Children’s Mental Health Plan was written.
Based on the requirements of the Act, five workgroups were convened to develop reports on how best to improve services and supports for children and their families. Workgroup members were selected based on their experience, knowledge and expertise. They were comprised of parents and caregivers, educators, community leaders, youth development experts, youth service providers, advocates and State policy leaders from multiple agencies. Each of the five workgroups developed reports highlighting the change that needed to occur and crafting recommendations to effect change in those areas. These workgroups were:
The reports we used to create the next iteration of the Plan called Engaging in the Next Step. This was a compilation of the work completed by the five groups which set the stage for the vision and principles underlying the development of The Children’s Plan.
To share this vision and get a wide range of input from anyone with a vested interest in children’s mental health, five "Regional Public Forums and Dialogues" were held throughout the state. These forums gave participants an opportunity to comment on the Plan and its recommendations and provide additional input into the future development of the final Plan document. In addition, the Office of Mental Health presented the workgroup findings and initial recommendations to a wide variety of stakeholders who provided additional feedback and guidance on the development of the Children’s Plan to help craft the final iteration of the document.
At the same time, Commissioners and staff from the various state child-serving agencies reviewed the recommendations and strategies to determine how they could contribute to improving the social and emotional development of children of their families. From these efforts, multiple joint initiatives were developed and committed to by each agency. These initiatives represent the action steps to be taken in year one of the Children’s Plan.
From the work of many, The Children’s Plan was created. The Plan reflects our collective goal to plan and act to achieve social and emotional well-being for all children across community and agency boundaries.
A child’s social-emotional development is as important as brain and physical development. Children’s social-emotional skills give them the confidence they need to reach goals, and the motivation to keep trying when things don’t work out. The key to social and emotional development is a child's early relationship with parents, caregivers and other caring adults. Learning how to support children's emotional needs can help to provide for them a secure base from which to grow into well-rounded, healthy adults.
Link below for information on appropriate social and emotional developmental milestones and what you can do to support them.
It is important that all adults involved in the lives of children help to promote their social and emotional development. This not only includes parents and family members, but pediatricians, educators, child care workers, and clinicians. Children need support for the development of their social and emotional skills from the time they are born until they are young adults, and in all areas of their life, at home, in school and in their communities.
Link to a list of resources below that can help you to have a positive impact children’s social and emotional development.
We are proud that so many people have been Engaged, helping to chart a course for the future of children's mental health in New York State. This plan presents opportunities for new and more meaningful kinds of Engagement—most importantly with children and their families. Whether a service provider, community activist or representative of a state agency, this means you as well. Please join us in improving the emotional well being of NYS children.
The Children’s Plan is a living document and will continue to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of our children and their families. The Plan will be revisited each year to take stock of our collective progress and to adapt the Plan. We would like to continue to Engage stakeholders in this process and have developed the capacity to receive ongoing input into the future of the Plan and its recommendations.
Anyone can provide input and recommendations on the Plan or the children’s service delivery system via email to engage@ccf.state.ny.us. Whether in the form of a dramatic policy change or steps within your family, community, program, classroom, medical practice or child care agency, no action is too small. If you do not have access to a computer, you may also send it via U.S. mail to:
The Children’s Plan
NYS Council on Children and Families
52 Washington Street, West Bldg., Suite 99
Rensselaer, NY 12144