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Children's Mercy has launched a new partial hospitalization program as part of its Illuminate initiative to address the growing mental health crisis among Kansas City children.
The program, which opened in late August, aims to fill the gap between inpatient and outpatient mental health services by providing intensive daily support while allowing children to return home to their families each night.
"One of the things that was really important to us was that when we bring children here and work with them and identify the best interventions and help them learn skills, that they will be able to generalize those skills back home and back to school," said Dr. Rebecca Johnson, developmental and behavioral health division director.
The partial hospitalization program (PCP) represents the latest milestone in Children's Mercy's Illuminate initiative, which was announced in 2023. In December 2024, the hospital celebrated the opening of its first mental wellness campus.
Johnson’s life’s work is to get kids the tools they need to thrive. In PHP, that means days full of learning and therapeutic services.
"We keep kids pretty busy at the PHP," she said. "They'll receive both individual psychotherapy services. They'll receive coaching with their peers, school, art and music therapy."
Illuminate addresses a significant need in the Kansas City area, where mental health services for children have been limited.
"One in five kids will experience depression or anxiety in a year, and those kids, and only 50% of those kids, will get services," said Emily Snow, behavioral health senior administrative director. "There were gaps for kids.”
The program is designed to serve any child, regardless of medical complexity, who needs intensive mental health support.
"We included clinical psychology, child and family therapy, psychiatry. We have a pediatrician on staff, which is very unique, but that allows us to serve this broad range of youth," Johnson said.
PHP extends its impact beyond the hospital walls by involving parents, teachers and caregivers in getting each child the care they need.
"You see that impact on the quality of life for that child and that family. It is incredibly rewarding, and that's why we're here, and that is one of the reasons we wanted to build the PHP," Johnson said.
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