Melissa Wijngaarde is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is the Maternal and Infant Mental Health Director at Families First. Melissa was promoted to the position after serving for two years as the Clinical Director of Families First’s Child First Program. Melissa came to Families First in 2019 after 15 years at the University of Miami’s Linda Ray Intervention Center where her work focused on Child Parent Psychotherapy as a treatment provider and supervisor. Melissa was a trainer within the Dependency Court system. While at the University of Miami, Melissa collaborated on the Miami Child Well-Being Court™ model which focused on addressing the relational, emotional, developmental and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in foster care. She is Endorsed by the Florida Association of Infant Mental Health as a Clinical Mentor and is a trained reflective supervisor. Melissa is nationally rostered in Child Parent Psychotherapy and Perinatal Child Parent Psychotherapy. Melissa developed the Infant Mental Health Head Start Program here at Families First, addressing the behavioral health and social emotional support needs of Head Start and Early Head Start programs all over Palm Beach County.