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by the Lead Agency. This pilot makes mental health professionals more available to families and child care staff. The consultants provide family engagement sessions (in person and virtual) to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellbeing practices. The consultants are also available to visit families in their homes and communities to discuss more specific mental health needs. The consultant can connect families with referrals and resources making sure that the family can successfully navigate any systemic barriers in obtaining support. The Lead Agency also sponsors Children’s Mental Health Week annually, the first week of May, to coincide with state and national mental health recognition events. Children’s Mental Health Week raises awareness, reducing the stigma around mental health and educating caregivers how to best support behavioral development and the importance of maintaining their own mental wellbeing. The Lead Agency also partners with the Georgia Association of Infant Mental Health (GA-AIMH) to make web-based resources and training videos about the foundations of infant and early childhood mental health available to the early childhood workforce (child care professionals, healthcare professionals, etc.) and families/caregivers. GA-AIMH, based at Georgia State University, serves as the resource hub for infant and early childhood mental health resources and training in Georgia. https://aimh.gsu.edu/ 9.3.7 Policies on the prevention of the suspension and expulsion of children a. The Lead Agency must have policies to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children from birth to age 5 in child care and other early childhood programs receiving CCDF funds. Describe those policies and how those policies are shared with families, providers, and the general public: The Lead Agency requires by rule that programs establish and implement written operational policies and procedures outlining a description of enrollment and admission requirements and a description of behavior management, guidance and discipline actions used by the program within which these policies should be addressed. These operational policies and procedures are reviewed during annual inspections for completeness and to ensure that they are fair and adequate to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children. Georgia’s state funded Pre-K program also addresses suspension and expulsion in the Pre-K Program Provider’ Operating Guidelines that are made available to programs and families on the Department’s website. b. Describe what policies, if any, the Lead Agency has to prevent the suspension and expulsion of school-age children from child or youth care settings receiving CCDF funds: The Lead Agency requires by rule that programs establish and implement written operational policies and procedures outlining a description of enrollment and admission requirements and a description of behavior management, guidance and discipline actions used by the program within which these policies should be addressed. These operational policies and procedures are reviewed during annual licensing inspections for completeness and to ensure that they are fair and adequate to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children. 9.4 Providing Information on Developmental Screenings Lead Agencies must provide information on developmental screenings to parents as part of the intake process for families participating in CCDF and to child care providers through training and education. This information must include: • Existing resources and services that the State can make available in conducting developmental screenings and providing referrals to services when appropriate for children