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2/4/2026
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DiMario, Fogarty support workforce training for childhood mental health professionals
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STATE HOUSE — Sen. Alana M. DiMario and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty are supporting workforce training for child mental health professionals by covering membership fees for infant and child care professionals.
The Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health (RIAIMH) is providing its members with a series of trainings covering the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, a national framework for assessing mental health challenges in young children.
Senator DiMario and Representative Fogarty are together covering the cost of 20 RIAIMH memberships for clinicians and other allied professionals who work in infant mental health who would not otherwise be able to afford the membership required to participate in these trainings.
“The foundations of mental health start in infancy and it’s important that professionals who work with infants and young children have enough familiarity with the specific mental health challenges of this age group to recognize issues and recommend assistance promptly,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham), who works as a licensed mental health counselor in private practice. “By covering these memberships, Representative Fogarty and I hope to expand access to these important mental health trainings to child care professionals who work in early care and education who would not otherwise have access to this learning opportunity.”
Senator DiMario and Representative Fogarty stressed that the need for mental health support for infants and young children in Rhode Island has been growing in recent years. The number of children under five enrolled in Medicaid with Serious Emotional Disturbance has increased from 10 percent in 2017 to 22 percent in 2024.
“The wellbeing and mental health of Rhode Island’s infants and young children have been of deep concern to the General Assembly for many years,” said Representative Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown). “In 2022, we established the Infant Early Childhood Task Force, which in 2023 issued a plan to support early childhood mental health that stressed the importance of increased training for clinicians and other professionals who work with young children as a necessary first step to support children with mental health challenges. The trainings that RIAIMH is leading are exactly the kind of program that the plan recommended and that our state needs, and Senator DiMario and I want to ensure that as many child care professionals as possible have access to them.”
The RIAIMH training courses are partially funded by grants from the Rhode Island Foundation.
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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