⚠ COVID-19 INFORMATION: Vaccine Information, Other Resources 

Partial Hospitalization Program

Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) treatment occurs in place of school during school day hours for children aged 10 to 14 years old. The average length of stay for families in our PHP is approximately two weeks. The PHP is open five days each week from Mondays through Friday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.


Our Approach

Lurie Children’s PHP includes a multidisciplinary team made up of psychiatrists, psychologistssocial workersteachers, milieu therapists, traineesrecreation therapists, nurses and administrative staff. We strive to create a safe, collaborative, therapeutic, and fun environment through developmentally-appropriate curriculums to teach each child how to effectively cope with their problems. We utilize evidence-based approaches to individualize treatment and address the needs of each patient, including:

  • Unified protocols for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in children and adolescents
  • Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP)
  • Parent training
  • Collaboration with outside providers
  • Collaboration with teachers

We also require family involvement throughout treatment to provide each family with knowledge and effective strategies as they continue to support their child’s transition to their routine life through family sessions and Multifamily Group Education Series.

What We Treat

The Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) has two primary treatment tracks:

We may also provide treatment in other areas as clinically appropriate. Please contact us at 312.227.0840 to discuss your questions about whether or not our program is an appropriate fit for your child and family. Please also note that the first days of treatment are an opportunity to get to know your child and family better. Occasionally, we may recommend a different treatment modality or treatment program if we feel that such a change would better meet your child’s treatment needs.

Our Specialists

The multidisciplinary team includes child and adolescent psychiatrists, social workers, registered nurses, recreational therapist, milieu therapists and a specialized teacher. Team members meet regularly to discuss each child’s progress and refine treatment goals.

Meet Our Team

How to Prepare for Your First Day

PHP program hours run from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Families are required to drop their child at 9 a.m. each morning and participate in a brief morning check-in with a Milieu Therapist to review their child’s progress at home the previous evening. Families are required to pick up their child no later than 3 p.m. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we offer virtual parent groups on parenting topics and advocating for your child in academic settings. In addition, families are required to participate in two family sessions with their child’s primary clinician to address individualized treatment progress and goals.

Recreation Therapy (RT) is a group-based component of PHP that improves socialization, leisure functioning and community reintegration. Based on the specific needs of the patients, the following programs may be developed and implemented:

  • Arts and crafts
  • Physical fitness/education
  • Team building
  • Leisure education
  • Yoga
  • Relaxation group/techniques
  • Problem solving (learning and use of coping skills/tools)
  • Animal assisted therapy (two times/month)
  • Nutrition
  • Dance and music activities
  • Family RT group (once/week in PHP)
  • Wellness groups
  • Games and socialization activities
  • Other programs as deemed therapeutic to meet the needs of the patients

Milieu Therapists (MTs) provide in-group support for patients on the unit throughout all milieu activities. Their primary role is to help children work on achieving their goals and practicing to integrate coping tools into their everyday lives so they can better regulate their emotions. Each day, our MTs check-in with parents or guardians on how their child appears at home and communicate upcoming appointments.

They are also the primary contact and liaison between patients, other team members and the patient's family. The milieu therapist communicates with the treatment team on how the patient is functioning throughout the day.

PHP is a Monday-Friday program (unless a holiday is announced). If possible, do not plan your family outings and outpatient appointments on days when your child is expected to be in attendance. If you must miss a day for an important event, please let staff know ahead of time. If there are two missed days, your child will be discharged. If your child reports feeling ill prior to arrival in the morning, take their temperature. If it is at 100.5 or above, please call the Program office at 312.227.0840 to report absence for that day. You must receive a return slip from your child’s primary care physician to return to either program.

We require every staff member and patient to complete a daily symptom screening prior to arriving in the program each day. During the treatment, all patients and staff wear medical grade masks. Please arrive to programming in a mask from home and upon arrival your child will be provided with a medical grade mask to wear throughout the day except when eating or drinking. Patients are socially distanced in the group treatment room and each patient are provided with their own program supplies and table.

Please stay home and call our program line for further instructions if your child has any of the following symptoms sore throat, fever or chills, cough, extreme fatigue, headache, new loss of taste or smell,  shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, congestion or runny nose. If you, your child, or any member of the household have been diagnosed with or had a positive or pending result for COVID-19 or exposure to an individual with pending results or confirmed COVID-19, please stay home and call our program line for further instructions.

Report all medicines that your child is taking to staff every day at check-in, as well as any allergies to medicines.

The child’s medicine regimen will be discussed with the parent, psychiatrist and therapist. The nurse is available for additional assistance. Do not alter your child’s medicine dosage in any way, unless the plan has been discussed with your child’s doctor in PHP and approved by the parent. We do not administer any over-the-counter medicines in PHP, nor any medicines that the parent has not approved of administering to their child. Children who use inhalers for asthma should also plan to bring a pharmacy-labeled bottle or package to be kept in PHP during the child’s stay. Medicines kept in PHP will be returned to the parent at the end of the child’s stay.

PHP involves intense family involvement, including family therapy sessions twice a week with the therapist, multi-family group sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m., treatment programs, and daily check-ins with staff. Failure to attend any of these required sessions may result in discharge. We are happy to provide help with work letters or FMLA documents.

We do not provide transportation to PHP.

Please click here for more location information. If you are parking your car at the Blackhawk-Halsted parking garage at Lurie Children’s, you qualify for a daily rate 0-2 hours; $3 or 2-3 hours; $6

Contact Information & Location

The Partial Hospitalization Program is located at: 

Outpatient Services at 1440 N. Dayton
1440 N. Dayton, 2nd floor 
Chicago, IL 60642

To contact the Partial Hospitalization Program, please call 312.227.0840

The fax number for the program is 312.227.9772. 

Printable Parent/Patient Rating Forms

The following electronic forms are for patients currently enrolled in IOP. Only complete these forms if instructed by the IOP team. 

Click the below links to download and print the parent/patient rating forms: 

MyChart

MyChart gives you safe, secure online access to portions of your child's electronic medical record (EMR). MyChart also serves as a secure message center to communicate with your child’s healthcare providers and complete online questionnaires for enrolled programs. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT MYCHART

General Mental Health Resources

Books for Children 

Anger & Impulse Control

  • What To Do When Your Temper Flares by Dawn Heubner (for children ages 8-12)

Anxiety, Worry & Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  • The Thought That Counts: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager’s Experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Jared Kant and Martin Franklin (teenagers)
  • What To Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck by Dawn Heubner (OCD) (for children ages 8-12)
  • What You Must Think of Me: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager’s Experience with Social Anxiety Disorder by Emily Ford and Michael Liebowitz (teenagers)
  • Guts by Raina Telgemeier (Anxiety) (3rd-8th grade)

Depression

  • Meh by Deborah Malcolm (depression) (children ages 6-10)
  • Eight Stories Up: An Adolescent Chooses Hope over Suicide by Quincy Levine and David Brent (teenagers)

Feelings, Self-esteem & Miscellaneous

  • Just As You Are: A Teen’s Guide to Self-Acceptance and Lasting Self-Esteem by Michelle Skeen, PsyD (teens)
  • Next to Nothing: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager’s Experience with an Eating Disorder by Carrie Arnold and B. Timothy Walsh (teenagers and young adults)

Books for Caregivers

  • Depression and Your Child: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers by Deborah Serani
  • Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids – How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Dr. Laura Markham
  • The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene
  • Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them by Ross W. Greene
  • If Your Adolescent Has an Anxiety Disorder: An Essential Resource for Parents by Edna B. Foa and Linda Wasmer Andrews
  • Why Smart Kids Worry and What Parents Can do to Help by Allison Edwards, LPC
  • Start Here: A Parent's Guide to Helping Children and Teens Through Mental Health Challenges by Pier Bryden, MD and Peter Szatmari, MD
  • Proactive Parenting: Help your child conquer self-destructive behaviours and build self-esteem by Mandy Saligari
  • How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
  • How to Talk so Teens Will Listen & Listen so Teens Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Hotline/Support Numbers

Related Specialties

Philanthropy

Your support is vital in helping us continue to make a difference in the lives of patients and families. Lurie Children's relies on philanthropic funding to enhance its programs, services and research for children. To learn more, please e-mail the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation at foundation@luriechildrens.org or call 312.227.7500