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School Services at a Glance

Due to their medical complexities, children who experience chronic and mental health care needs are more at risk for educational difficulties.

The Center for School Services partners with schools and medical teams to support families and patients with their educational needs through:

Collaboration between school systems, patients/families and medical providers
Coordination of resources for enhanced navigation of education and healthcare systems
Care for school aged youth at Cincinnati Children's utilizing proactive educational interventions

If you have questions, please email us at school_services@cchmc.org.

How We Help:

Inpatient

Bedside teachers offer individual or group instruction to children with chronic health conditions who will be in the hospital for an extended stay.
School specialists provide school communication for a safe handoff back to school for children with acute psychiatric needs.
School liaisons collaborate with families, schools, and the medical team to communicate medical information related to school needs for children with acute and chronic diagnoses.

Outpatient

School liaisons collaborate with families, schools, and the medical team to communicate medical information related to school needs for children with chronic and mental health conditions.

Where We Help:

Depending on your child’s medical needs and personal preferences, we can provide one-on-one instruction at the bedside—or group instruction in our on-site classrooms—at the following facilities:

Burnet Campus in Cincinnati.
Liberty Campus in Liberty Township.
Three psychiatric clinics that offer partial hospitalization. These include our locations in Green Township and Norwood.

Lines of Service

Hospital School Program

The Hospital School Program provides direct instruction support at the Burnet and Liberty Campuses for school-aged patients as available.

Bedside and Classroom

Learning Our licensed teachers work with patients who are admitted for an extended period of time. This includes:

School-aged children
Young adults pursuing their high school equivalency diploma (also known as a GED)
Children who live outside of Ohio but have traveled here to receive care

Depending on your child’s medical needs, we can provide one-on-one instruction at the bedside—or group instruction in our on-site classrooms.

If your child has an upcoming, planned hospital stay, simply bring any school materials, supplies or log-in information with you and we’ll take it from there. Our teachers or volunteers can assist with any subject and will collaborate with your child’s school or teacher(s) as needed.

Families are able to request services through their medical team.

Inpatient Psychiatry Program

The Inpatient Psychiatry Program offers communication with school teams regarding admission, discharge, and individualized recommendations to provide a safe handoff to the receiving school environment. Inpatient psychiatry services patients at College Hill.

Based on parent/guardian consent and tiered level of need, school services offers the following levels of care:

Tier 3:

Collaborate with family, school and care team
Participate in school meeting

Tier 2:

Coach family and offer guidance for next steps
Share family concerns with school
Explore patient perspective, if applicable

Tier 1:

Consult with care team and/or family to gather more information
Provide resources tailored to the concern(s)

Tier 0:

Send admit/discharge standard care email to school

Patients are tiered based on school need and provided appropriate level of support.

Partial Hospitalization Program

The Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) provides education support and tailored recommendations for psychiatry patients as they transition back-to-school at Norwood and Green Township.

The PHP is designed to help patients return to their normal routines when their emotional well-being and mental health begin to interfere with daily life. To support the well-being of the patient and to sustain treatment gains, acquired skills, and coping strategies long-term, School Specialists:

Encourage patients to learn, utilize, and adopt problem-solving strategies and coping skills for long-term school success
Foster care coordination between hospital and school by collaborating with all stakeholders in the child’s school journey (parent, family, treatment team, and school team) to communicate relevant interventions, treatment gains, and post-discharge support practices needed for long-term success.

School services is embedded in the programming during a PHP stay.

School Liaisons

School Liaisons collaborate with families, medical providers, and school teams to provide support for patients with chronic and outpatient mental health conditions who need support bridging medical information as it relates to school needs.

Collaboration with the patient’s family, school, and medical team could include:

Tier 3: High

Collaboration with patient/family and school team
Participation in a formal school meeting (IEP, 504, Behavior meetings, etc.) within a 60-mile radius of Cincinnati Children's
Follow through current school year

Tier 2: Moderate

Consultation with school team
Share diagnosis, treatment, implications and specific recommendations for support with school team

Tier 1: Low

Coaching/Consultation provided to family
Medical documentation provided to family

Ineligible for Services

Link to resources or agencies, if appropriate

To receive School Liaison Services, the patient’s provider will need to place a referral.

Additional Support

Our School Services team is uniquely qualified to support your family. Whether your child needs help with their math lessons or qualifies for school re-entry assistance, you can count on our teachers and school liaisons.

Building Awareness

With your permission, we can help teachers and other school staff understand how your child’s medical condition (or recent treatments) may affect their academic performance.

Providing Documentation

We can provide any clinical documentation you need to request homebound instruction or classroom accommodations for your child (such as extra time to take tests or access to special bathrooms).

Advocating for Your Child

We can help you understand what school supports are available to your child. For example, we can teach you the differences between individualized educational plans (IEPs) and 504 plans.

Related Resources

Child Life

We use age-appropriate education and fun activities to help make your child’s healthcare experience less stressful and more enjoyable.

Creative Arts Therapy

We offer music therapy and art therapy to help hospitalized patients and their families cope better and feel better.

Family Resource Center

We provide space to read, catch up on work, grab a cup of coffee or play a game with your child.

Explore Patient Resources

We provide resources to help heal, engage and support your child during every step of their visit or overnight stay at Cincinnati Children's.

Patient ResourcesSchool Services