Before a child can even name what they're feeling, someone in the room may already be watching, listening, and helping their teacher understand. That's the idea behind a new state-funded program bringing on-site mental health consultants into early education classrooms in Andover and North Andover, part of $5 million in grants the Healey-Driscoll administration announced Thursday.

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a Lexington-based nonprofit known as MSPCC, will receive $1,174,019 to bring these services to communities including Andover and North Andover. It's one of five regional organizations chosen by the state to provide Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation statewide. No local start date has been announced yet.

The consultants work directly inside classrooms and child care settings — coaching educators, observing how children interact and respond to their environment, building individualized behavior support plans, and connecting families to resources like Early Intervention, special education, and behavioral health services. Any family with a child in a licensed early education program in MSPCC's service area — family child care, group and school-age programs, public preschool, or Head Start — could see one of these consultants working quietly alongside their child's teacher.

"Mental health challenges continue to affect children across Massachusetts, and these grants will help educators and families better support their mental health, improve learning and connect young children with services that can make a lasting difference," Gov. Maura Healey said. EEC Commissioner Amy Kershaw added that the funding helps educators respond to children's social-emotional and behavioral needs and put trauma-informed, evidence-based support in place from the very start.

MSPCC traces back to 1878 and now operates through Eliot Community Human Services, with service sites already running in Boston, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell and Worcester. The state has held this grant funding steady at $5 million since fiscal 2024, up from $3.5 million the year before.

Also happening around town:

  • Pomps Pond Children's Performances: Matt Heaton & The Outside Toys, July 22; Kaleidoscope Bubble Show, July 29 — both at 147 Abbot Street, Andover
  • Andover Farmers Market: Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., through Oct. 17
  • North Andover Farmers Market: Sundays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., through Oct. 4
  • Asian Fest: Saturday, Aug. 8, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Central Park, Andover — free, hosted by Nathika Events