# Reducing Preschool Exclusionary Discipline Practices Through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Findings from the Jump Start Program

## TL;DR

A mental health consultation program called Jump Start significantly reduced preschool exclusionary discipline practices, especially when centers improved their policies.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that mental health consultation can effectively reduce exclusionary discipline when paired with policy improvements in childcare centers.

## Key findings

- Childcare centers participating in Jump Start reported significant reductions in traditional suspensions/expulsions.
- Jump Start was effective in reducing soft expulsions when centers improved their discipline policies.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
Childcare centers reported significant reductions in both traditional suspensions/expulsions and soft expulsions after participation in Jump Start, an infant and early childhood mental health consultation model.Jump Start was associated with reductions in soft expulsions when implementation significantly improved childcare center discipline policies.

Childcare centers reported significant reductions in both traditional suspensions/expulsions and soft expulsions after participation in Jump Start, an infant and early childhood mental health consultation model.

Jump Start was associated with reductions in soft expulsions when implementation significantly improved childcare center discipline policies.

What are the implications of the main findings?
Given reductions in traditional suspensions/expulsions and negative developmental trajectories associated with exclusionary discipline practices, researchers, educators, and policy makers should increasingly focus their efforts on the reduction in soft expulsions.When aiming to reduce soft expulsions, educators and policy makers should select interventions that support childcare centers in improving their policies related to exclusionary discipline practices.

Given reductions in traditional suspensions/expulsions and negative developmental trajectories associated with exclusionary discipline practices, researchers, educators, and policy makers should increasingly focus their efforts on the reduction in soft expulsions.

When aiming to reduce soft expulsions, educators and policy makers should select interventions that support childcare centers in improving their policies related to exclusionary discipline practices.

Background/Objectives: National data show that about 250 preschoolers are suspended or expelled daily in the United States. Jump Start is a multi-tiered infant and early childhood mental health consultation program that strengthens early care and education centers’ capacity to support children’s social–emotional development and prevent school suspension and expulsion. This retrospective study examined center-level exclusionary discipline practices, Jump Start participation, and related changes in discipline and expulsion policies. Methods: Data from 270 early care and education centers across Miami-Dade County that received Jump Start services during one of three academic years (2022–2023, 2023–2024, or 2024–2025) were included. Analyses examined associations between baseline exclusionary discipline practices, program duration, discipline and expulsion policy changes, and post-Jump Start exclusionary discipline practices. Results: Statistically significant reductions were observed in the frequency of traditional suspensions/expulsions and soft expulsions following Jump Start participation. The association between the Jump Start duration and post-Jump Start soft expulsions was significantly moderated by changes in center discipline policies, such that Jump Start was effective at reducing soft expulsions only when discipline policies showed meaningful improvement. Conclusions: Infant and early childhood consultation models, such as Jump Start, show promise in reducing exclusionary discipline practices, especially when implementation improves discipline policies.