Mass. early-education agency outlines behavioral-health supports, launches STREET training with OCA

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care detailed a package of behavioral-health supports for early childhood programs and launched a trauma-focused training initiative called STREET (Strategic Trauma Responsive Early Education Training) during a virtual “lunch and learn” session on Oct. 12.

EEC’s special education support specialist Amy Smith Seoli, who leads the agency’s behavioral-health team, said the team’s goals include helping teachers build classroom foundations for social-emotional learning, reducing exclusionary discipline, and supporting educator wellness. “A dysregulated teacher cannot help a dysregulated student,” Smith Seoli said.

The webinar explained how the behavioral-health team responds to program referrals, the role of statewide grantees that provide longer-term mental-health consultation, and how programs can access training and coaching. EEC staff described the Pyramid Model as the framework the agency uses to tier supports: universal classroom practices at the base, targeted social-skills supports in the middle, and individualized one-on-one interventions at the top. Chris Lloyd, a behavioral-health support specialist, called the Pyramid Model “the gold standard” for…