DIR® and an array of infant mental health educational services are reaching out to provide services to New York City’s East and Central Harlem communities. This exciting new initiative is being offered through the Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and Treatment Program of the New York Center of Child Development, and its affiliates, under Consulting Clinical Director, Gilbert Foley, Ed.D.   

Gilbert Foley describes this population as “families who have had to cope with many excessive stressors including poverty and trauma.” Intervention will initially emphasize the “Relationship” aspect of the DIR® Model. “Often our families are not ready to start with Floortime™ and individual differences. They frequently require a good deal of support and ‘holding’ to work through the confounds of their own history and dynamics, before being ready to become actively involved in Floortime™ with their child and working on their relationship with their child.” The project returns DIR to the families and children of its origins; those infants and families living in multiple risk conditions that inspired Dr. Greenspan and Dr. Wieder to develop this biopsychosocial model which brings out the best in nature through nurturing relationships.   

This new inner city model demonstration project, funded by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, was implemented to meet the needs of New York’s mental health system and the lack of professional services for children five years of age and younger. Considering its recent start in 2007, this project has already created a sizable impact, screening over 700 children with the mean age at screening of 29 months.  They have referred about 52% all children identified to Early Identification or CPSE (Committee for Pre-School Special Education), and providing over 2000 mental health intervention sessions through direct treatment or case consultations.

In addition to improving the ability of early childhood providers to prevent, identify, and treat social emotional behavioral problems for children under the age of five this demonstration project will coordinate mental health treatment across systems. Goals include increasing awareness on the impact of early infant mental health on development and learning, providing referrals for services, consultation and training to primary care preventative services and daycare agencies and to implement DIR® principles and services.  

Gilbert Foley further explains that another goal of the project is to create “a systems transformation,” in order to “to maximize the early intervention system when children are eligible to receive necessary mental health services and to transform traditional pediatric services, into a service paradigm that integrates mental health and DIR® intervention.” According to Gilbert Foley, the growth and success of this project lies in the further expansion of services, including the goals of being affiliated with more pediatric health sites and bringing the DIR® model into the pediatric settings as well as increasing outreach training efforts for professionals to build a greater capacity for working with young children with mental health and developmental issues.  

Among his many professional distinctions, Gilbert Foley, Ed.D is an Associate Professor of School-Clinical Child Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, NYU, and on the faculty of the ICDL Graduate School and the DIR® Institute.