Designing a virtual mental health consultation program to support and strengthen childcare centers impacted by COVID-19: A randomized controlled trial protocol

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative psychosocial impacts on young children; teachers in childcare centers continue to be overwhelmed by how to address the downstream psychological effects children are experiencing. This randomized controlled trial will study the role of a community-based, childcare center-support system in improving resilience and mitigating the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on children's development. METHODS: This study will be modeled on a successful Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) intervention which utilizes mental health consultants to deliver a Jump Start+: COVID 19 Support (JS + CS) virtual toolkit to childcare centers in Miami-Dade County via a Kubi robot. The toolkit comprises four strength-based strategies likely to be effective in improving resiliency following disasters: Safety Planning, Effective Communication, Adult Self-Care, and Trauma-Informed Behavior Support. Our first aim will utilize a cluster randomized trial to examine the effectiveness of JS + CS on improving the psychosocial functioning of young children, as compared to an obesity prevention intervention control group. Children will be followed at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. The second aim will examine the mechanisms that contribute to effective uptake by teachers of the JS + CS support strategies on child outcomes. The third aim will explore implementation barriers/facilitators as well as potential societal contextual factors (e.g., vaccine uptake) to help centers serving disproportionately affected minority communities recover from and prepare for future crises. CONCLUSION: This design will inform the refinement and scaling of JS + CS and generalize impacts to other childcare center interventions in the context of disasters.