Promoting Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs: Serving Low-Income Ethnic Minority Families

Nearly 25% of young children in the United States are living in poverty, and a disproportionate number of those children are African American or Latino (Children’s Defense Fund, 2011). Living in poverty is stressful and it increases the likelihood that children will have more developmental, academic, and mental health problems than their more economically advantaged peers (Bauman, Silver, & Stein, 2006; Booth & Crouter, 2008; Guyer et al., 2009; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004).