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Endorsement

Get recognized for what you know and how you work

Endorsement is a professional credential that documents your specialization in infant and/or early childhood mental health. Guided by widely adopted competencies, the Endorsement credential is recognized across the US and in other parts of the world.

How to apply
Requirements

What are IMH-E and ECMH-E?

What it means to be endorsed

Both the Infant Mental Health Endorsement (IMH-E®) and the Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement (ECMH-E®) are based on a set of competencies designed to support and enhance culturally sensitive, relationship focused practice within the framework of infant and early childhood mental health. An Endorsement applicant demonstrates acquisition of these competencies through education, work, specialized training, and reflective supervision experiences.

Benefits of endorsement

Good for You:

Demonstrates your expertise in working with infants, young children and their families.

Good for Babies and Families:

Supports infants, toddlers, families, and professionals in a culturally competent, reflective and relationship-based way.

Good for Communities:

Provides assurance to families, agencies, employers and the public at large that the endorsed professional meets high standards of knowledge and experience.

Good for Employers:

Verifies that professionals have attained a specified level of expertise and understanding about the promotion of IECMH and relationship-based approaches.

Good for the Field:

Informs professional development and career planning within an organized framework and creates a competent, high quality workforce leading to desired child/family outcomes.

Let’s Get You Started

How to apply

We look forward to supporting you on your path to Endorsement! To begin the process, please follow the steps listed below. If you have any questions or need assistance with your registration, please contact us at endorsement@or-imha.org

If you’re already a member then provide confirmation of current membership in another infant mental health association.

Otherwise click here to become a member.

Determine which Endorsement is best for you: IMH-E® or ECMH-E®. This will be based on your scope of practice: promotion, prevention/early intervention, clinical intervention/treatment, or macro.

Unsure of which endorsement is the best fit for you? Check out these guides:

This is the ORIMHA web-based system for compiling applications for Endorsement.  The first time you visit EASy, select “Register” under “New Applicant” Note: We strongly recommend using your personal email when you register, as the automated emails from our EASy system can sometimes end up in Junk or Spam folders when using your work email. We also recommend adding the following email addresses to your contacts list: endorsement@or-imha.org.


To register:

  • Visit the EASy website registration page
  • Complete and submit the registration questions.
  • Pay the EASy processing fee  
  • Log into EASy using the username and password issued to you via email from EASy and begin to prepare your application!

Para completar el proceso de registro en español, siga este enlace: https://orimha.myeasy.org/es

Some tips:

  • Click the “save” button on the screen after you upload your resume to ensure it is retained.

Your registration will be complete once we have received verification of your current infant mental health association membership and your registration payment has been received.  

Add IECMH relevant experiences that have supported your development of the competencies.

Questions?

Pay the processing fee at the time of submission, or write a note that you are sending a check in the mail. If you have questions, please contact the Endorsement Coordinator for support at endorsement@or-imha.org



Invoicing your fees?

Your application will undergo an application review. We will email you if we have questions and to let you know once your registration is approved. While our goal is to process registrations within two days, depending on volume it may take up to a week for ORIMHA to complete your initial registration review.

Additional requirements

  • For Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor applicants, you’ll also need to successfully pass an Endorsement exam. Applicants will be invited to sit for their exam upon successful review of their portfolio application. See more exam information here.

Your Endorsement credential tells employers, parents, health and legal practitioners, and insurance providers that you have expertise related to the social and emotional development of infants and young children in families!

Application tutorials and resources
Down to the details

Endorsement
Requirements

Cover your bases

Each IMH-E® and ECMH-E® category has specific work, education, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation requirements, specific to different age groups. Endorsement renewal must be completed on a fixed 3 year cycle.

IMH-E® Requirements


Infant Mental Health Endorsement (IMH-E®) applicants will demonstrate achievement of competencies, as defined in the desired categories. Detailed information specific to each category can be found in the Competency Guidelines link.

IMH-E® Competency guidelines

ECMH-E® Requirements


Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement (ECMH-E®) applicants will demonstrate achievement of competencies, as defined in the desired categories. Detailed information specific to each category can be found in the Competency Guidelines link.

ECMH-E® Competency guidelines

Endorsement renewal


The Endorsement renewal period runs from October to December on a fixed 3 year cycle (2024, 2027, 2030…). A renewed Endorsement is valid for three years before renewal is required. For additional information on this year’s renewal period and the steps to reapply, follow the link below.

Renewal resources

Endorsement fees

The costs for Infant/Early Childhood Specialist and Infant/Early Childhood Mentor are in line with credentialing fees that have been established by other professional organizations, e.g., CDA (Child Development Associate) and ACSW (Accreditation for Certified Social Workers). The credentialing fees support the overhead costs of ORIMHA Endorsement and allow us to have applications and exams carefully reviewed.

Infant Family Associate

Registration $25 / Processing $25

Infant Family Specialist

Registration $25 / Processing $100

Infant Mental Health Specialist

Registration $25 / Processing $150

Infant Mental Health Mentor (Clinical)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Infant Mental Health Mentor (Policy)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Infant Mental Health Mentor (Research/Faculty)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Early Childhood Family Associate

Registration $25 / Processing $25

Early Childhood Family Specialist

Registration $25 / Processing $100

Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist

Registration $25 / Processing $150

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor (Clinical)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor (Policy)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor (Research/Faculty)

Registration $25 / Processing $250

Endorsed Reflective Supervisor

Registration $25 / Processing $50

The Endorsement Exam

Infant Mental Health Mentor, and Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor Endorsement 
applicants must pass an exam prior to earning Endorsement. You can find a detailed guide to the Endorsement and exam by following the link below. Please contact us with any questions you have during this process.

Exam resources and guides
We’re here to help

Frequently asked questions

All applications are carefully reviewed by at least one trained application reviewer who has earned Endorsement.  The application reviewer will examine your transcripts, reference rating forms, and qualifying specialized work, in-service training, and RSC experiences. Then they will make a recommendation about whether to recommend your application for Endorsement, to approve you to sit for the Endorsement exam, or may suggest that you pursue further work, training and/or RSC experiences and then have your application be re-reviewed after a period of time.

You can find a detailed guide to the Endorsement and exam here.

Please contact us with any questions you have during this process.

If you have questions while in EASy, there are Comment boxes within every tab of the Endorsement application where applicants can ask questions or leave remarks.  If you have other questions, unrelated to EASy, email the Endorsement Coordinator.

Yes, to convert your application and the EASy system to Spanish from your profile tab select Enable Spanish Language then select save!

Most applicants spend an average of 6 months completing their Endorsement application. That said, this depends largely on applicants’ work, supervision, and training experiences in addition to the Endorsement category for which they are applying. 

The costs for Infant/Early Childhood Specialist and Infant/Early Childhood Mentor are in line with credentialing fees that have been established by other professional organizations, e.g., CDA (Child Development Associate) and ACSW (Accreditation for Certified Social Workers).

The credentialing fees support the overhead costs of ORIMHA Endorsement and allow us to have applications and exams carefully reviewed. View the fees here*. 

You should maintain membership in the association in the state where you live.

Neurons to Neighborhoods (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000) and Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation (2015) report there is a critical shortage of well trained professionals who have knowledge, skills and supervised work experience to promote healthy social and emotional development, and to intervene and treat serious early childhood mental health problems.

By engaging in Endorsement, you will:

  1. Grow and develop as a professional in the rapidly expanding infant, young child and family service field
  2. Be recognized by employers and peers for having attained a category of competency in culturally sensitive, relationship-based practice that promotes infant and early childhood mental health
  3. Become a part of one of the first and most comprehensive international efforts to identify best practice competencies at multiple levels and across disciplines and to offer a pathway for professional development in the infant and family field.

Graduates from a college or university program or post-graduate certificate program in infant mental health must submit documentation of completion of the program, such as a copy of diploma or certificate. Certificate holders may find that their course work has documented their competency in all of the knowledge and skill areas under Theoretical Foundations and Direct Service Skills as defined for Infant/Early Childhood Family Specialist or Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. The approved competencies vary from program to program.

Although most of the competencies are documented by the completion of a university-based certificate in infant mental health, certificate holders who apply for Endorsement® must still include at least 30 hours of specialized in-service training.

Learn more about how to crosswalk competencies from grad certificate programs by visiting the competency guidelines here.

The Infant Mental Health Endorsement (IMH-E®) and Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement (ECMH-E®) marks indicates that a person has earned Endorsement. Use of the registered trademark is important (whenever possible) to distinguish from other systems of “endorsement.”

Example signature use:
Jane Snow, LMSW, IMH-E®, Infant Mental Health Mentor-Clinical

Yes, membership is required to seek endorsement.

For more information, visit orimha.myeasy.org/support

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