High-quality early care and education (ECE) programs are vital for healthy child development, emphasizing safe environments and supportive communication. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) aims to enhance these settings and improve young children’s social-emotional outcomes. This study assesses the effectiveness of Jump Start Plus COVID Support (JS+CS) in improving child psychosocial outcomes, specifically prosocial behaviors and reducing both externalizing and internalizing behaviors, over two school years.

In a cluster-randomized trial, 12 ECE centers participated in the 14-week JS+CS intervention, while another 12 centers engaged in a control program focused on obesity prevention. Children were monitored for changes in behavior using the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results indicated significant improvements for the JS+CS group in DECA Initiative and Self-Regulation compared to the control group, with statistical significance at p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively. The findings suggest that JS+CS effectively enhances child psychosocial functioning and may serve as a scalable model for mental health consultation in ECE settings.