Endorsement Renewal

Renewal Deadline
December 31

Renewal Requirements

Endorsement Renewal Overview
&
Requirements

Maintaining Endorsement in Infant and/or Early Childhood Mental Health requires ongoing training and, in the cases of Family Specialist (FS), Mental Health Specialist (MHS), and Mental Health Mentor-Clinical (MHM-C), ongoing Reflective Supervision/Consultation. Endorsees also re-commit to upholding the Code of Ethics annually.

Renewal Fees:

$40 Endorsement Renewal
$60 VAIMH Membership (https://www.vaimh.org/membership-form)

Reflective Supervision (12 hours):

Family Specialist, Mental Health Specialist, and Mental Health Mentor-Clinical endorsees are required to document the receipt of 12 hours of Reflective Supervision (group or individual) from a qualified provider annually.

Family Associates (FA), Mental Health Mentor-Policy (MHM-P), and Mental Health Mentor-Research/Faculty (MHM-R/F) are not required to receive RSC, but are strongly encouraged to participate in ongoing RSC hours because we know that RSC offers infant and early childhood mental health professionals a supportive mentor relationship that helps nurture their ability to provide consistent and quality relationship-based services, in turn meaning better outcomes for infants, young children, and their families.

Endorsed Reflective Supervision (ERS) Providers:

Endorsed Reflective Supervision (ERS) providers are professionals who have attained Infant and/or Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement as a Family Specialist or Mental Health Specialist, and have also met the qualifications and requirements necessary for the ERS add-on.

In addition to receiving RSC about your direct service work, a focus of your sessions should address the reflective supervision you are providing to others.

Ongoing Professional Development (15 hours):

All IECMH Endorsees are required to document a minimum of 15 training hours per year of relationship-based education and training pertaining to the promotion of social-emotional development and/or the practice of IECMH.

A minimum of 3 of the 15 professional development hours must address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as it relates to IECMH principles.

Endorsed Reflective Supervision Providers:

In addition to the DEI training hours, a minimum of 3 of the 15 hours of training received must be on the provision of RSC.

Newly Endorsed:

Professionals who become newly Endorsed often do not have a full year to meet renewal requirements. Therefore, a grace period is offered to allow sufficient time to meet RSC and ongoing professional development opportunities. New endorsees should refer to their Endorsement Congratulatory Letter and Endorsement Certificate to confirm when their renewal is due.

Example:

If you obtained initial Endorsement in 2024, you do not need to submit for Endorsement Renewal until December 2025.

If you are not up for renewal yet, you DO need to keep your VAIMH Membership current.

Dual Endorsement: With each new Endorsement, the Endorsement Coordinator will provide you with renewal instructions, outlining what to do with each of your credentials. You may wish to maintain them all, or you can archive an Endorsement that is not being used.

IECMH Endorsees holding dual Endorsement should complete the ongoing Professional Development/Training and Reflective Supervision/Consultation (RSC) requirements, as applicable, for the Endorsement category with the most requirements for renewal.

Example: If you hold endorsement as a Mental Health Mentor-Research/Faculty and as a Family Specialist, you would renew your FS Endorsement because it holds the requirement for RSC.

In the year the most recently earned Endorsement does not require renewal, the endorsee is still required to renew the Endorsement that has been held for longer than a year.

Example: You attained Endorsement as a Mental Health Mentor-Research/Faculty in 2020, and your Family Specialist-Endorsed Reflective Supervisor endorsement in March of 2024. The FS-ERS Endorsement has the most requirements needed for renewal. However, since you would only have 9 months to meet those requirements, you would instead renew your MHM-R/F Endorsement in 2024, and then your FS-ERS Endorsement in 2025.

Endorsees holding dual Endorsement in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health should make sure the training and professional development addresses topics pertaining to the 0-6 age range.

Unable to Meet Renewal Requirements:

IECMH Endorsees who are unable to obtain the necessary renewal hours may request Inactive Endorsement.

Requirements for Inactive Endorsement are:

Maintenance of VAIMH Membership ($60);
5 hours of specialized training (instead of 15); and,
Submission of Application for partial renewal. ($40)

Please email Kristen Stahr, IECMH Endorsement Coordinator, at khstahr@vcu.edu so we can talk through your options.

1. Renew your VAIMH Membership by December 31 and pay the $60 membership fee.

2. Log into your EASy Application

* Change your membership expiration date under the Details Tab.

* Confirm that your contact information is correct.

* Update your demographic information under the Profile tab, if applicable.

3. Ethics Tab:

* Review and initial if you agree with each Code of Ethics value.

4. Training Tab:

* Document a minimum of 15 clock hours of relationship-based education and training pertaining to the promotion of social-emotional development and/or the practice of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

* A minimum of 3 of the 15 hours must be related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in IECMH.

* For FS-ERS / MHS-ERS / MHM-C Reflective Supervisors:

Document a minimum of 3 hours of training received on the provision of RS.

Documentation Hints

List Conference breakout session titles after the name of the conference to provide documentation that the content you received meets IECMH renewal requirements.

Webinars recorded in previous years, but viewed during the current renewal year are accepted.

If the title of the training does not clearly indicate that the content was related to IECMH practices, please add a brief note to describe the content and how you are using it in your work.

Click "Save" after each training entry.

5. Submit for Renewal:

* Navigate to the Status tab in the left hand column.

* Click on the Submit for Endorsement Renewal button and pay the $40 Endorsement Renewal Fee (unless you already submitted payment when renewing your VAIMH Membership).

* VCU closes for winter break 12/22/2024 - 1/1/2025. The Endorsement Coordinator will not be available for assistance during this time.