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Five Action Steps to Address Maternal Depression in Head Start Programs
While roughly 15% of new mothers suffer from maternal depression, the rates are much higher in families with lower incomes. In fact, 52% of mothers in the Early Head Start research study reported high levels of depressive symptoms (Administration for Children and Families, 2002).
Maternal depression interferes with a mother’s ability to be responsive to her new babies and makes parenting toddlers and preschoolers more difficult. Head Start programs have a lot of resources available to them to address this issue.
Here are some action steps and resources that programs can take to reduce the impact of depression in the families they serve.
- Identify families in need of support through validated screening tools
- Train staff about depression warning signs and how to talk with families
- Provide reflective supervision for staff working with families who have mental health challenges
- Connect families with community-based treatment services
- Reduce stigma by promoting awareness of depression as a common and treatable condition
Click on the icons below to read more about each action step and to access resources to help you working with mothers and their families.
 Identify Families |
 Train Staff |
 Provide Reflective Supervision |
 Connect Families |
 Reduce Stigma |
This website was made possible by grant number 90YD0268 from the Office of Head Start, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or policies of the funding agency nor does publication in any way constitute an endorsement by the funding agency.
