Endorsement Renewal

Renewal Deadline
December 31

Endorsement Renewal Overview
&
Requirements

Renewal Requirements

Maintaining Endorsement in Infant and/or Early Childhood Mental Health requires ongoing training and, in the cases of Family Specialist (FS), Family Reflective Supervisor (FRS), 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, Family Reflective Supervisor, 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 beginning December 2024.

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.

Reflective Supervision Providers:

Professionals endorsed as a Family Reflective Supervisor, Mental Health Specialist, or Mental Health Mentor Clinical, and who are providing RS to IECMH applicants/endorsees:

The RSC you receive should also focus on the RSC you provide to others.

MHM-Cs who have maintained Endorsement for a minimum of 3 years are required to only receive and document 10 hours of RSC.

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

Reflective Supervision Providers:

Endorsees providing Reflective Supervision/Consultation to IECMH applicants or endorsees:

3 hours of training received should 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 to confirm when their renewal is due.

Example:

If you obtained initial Endorsement in 2023, you do not need to submit for Endorsement Renewal until December 2024.

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

Dual Endorsement:

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.

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.

Simply add a comment on the training tab of your other application(s) that state:

"Renewal Hours for Endorsement were documented in my XXX Application".

Note: if you hold dual endorsement in both Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, the same rule applies.

You will want to document that some of your training hours pertained 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. Work Tab:

* Review to make sure current scope of work is documented/up-to-date.

5. 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 1 of the 15 hours must be related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in IECMH.

* For FRS / MHS / 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 12/22/2023 - 1/1/2024. The Endorsement Coordinator will not be available for assistance during this time.