Come Along for the Ride!

We’re headed on the road! We’re excited to launch The Children’s Place on Wheels, a new traveling mental health therapy playroom in a retrofitted minibus.

Families have long asked for The Children’s Place to provide mental health therapy services outside of our building. There are so many challenges to pursuing therapy, including fitting it into a busy family’s schedule, navigating caregivers’ changing work schedules, finding childcare for other children, not to mention the expense. The Children’s Place on Wheels will travel directly to schools, early education centers or other community partners to meet the children where they are. Children can receive the mental health therapy they need to heal from their past experiences and thrive.

Meeting Children Where They Are

Our community partners at early childhood centers and other organizations have often requested to have our therapists on-site to assist with meeting the mental health needs of the children they serve, but one of the greatest challenges of doing this is identifying a room appropriate for play therapy. Play therapy is a therapeutic modality that gives children the chance to communicate about their experiences and feelings by using play. For play therapy to be most effective, it’s important to have a playroom that provides a safe space for children to create, reenact, pretend, yell—whatever they need to do—all while remaining private. The Children’s Place on Wheels is carefully designed so that it is truly like stepping into a playroom at The Children’s Place.

For nearly 50 years, The Children’s Place has provided transportation for children in our Day Treatment program to travel to our building each day, so we are well accustomed to working with buses and providing transportation. This program will open a new door for additional children to have access to mental health therapy right where they spend their days and without any cost to the family or school/placement site.

Walking Into a Playroom

Consistency is extremely important in play therapy so that children can know what to expect in the playroom to be able to talk through their experiences on the road to healing. Play therapy spaces have a range of toys to help children express feelings, show nurturing or to tell the stories of past traumatic experiences. Other toys allow children to express curiosity or pursue mastery of a skill. When a child enters a play therapy space, they know that they have autonomy and can do what they need to do in that space, a rare chance for children who have much of their world ordered for them.

When you step aboard The Children’s Place on Wheels, all of these components from our playrooms will remain so that children can work through their big experiences. Beyond the reworking of the interior, the bus has other features, including a heater and air conditioner to control temperature while parked, heated floors, and voice-activated lighting to create a comfortable therapeutic environment.

Staffed with a registered play therapist and a driver, the bus will park outside a center to meet with children for appointment-based therapy sessions. These clients will still be referred through The Children’s Place and begin their journeys with an initial developmental assessment along with a meeting between the caregiver and therapist. From there, the child will have a weekly appointment on the bus, with both the therapist and bus driver on the vehicle during sessions to ensure safety for all. Interns or fellows who are pursuing careers in the mental health field will also join at times to learn from our experienced therapists and develop an understanding of community-based mental health.

Expanding Impact

The Children’s Place on Wheels expects to serve 20 children each week, adding up to approximately 700 sessions per year. Beyond the children who receive sessions on the bus, our therapists will also be available to offer psychoeducation for educational staff to expand the knowledge of trauma and mental health. The Children’s Place on Wheels will also be available for crisis support when tragic events happen throughout the community.

The design and retrofitting process is nearing completion, with a target of fall 2024 for the bus to hit the road.

This new program is possible thanks to generous support from CAPTRUST, the Children’s Services Fund of Jackson County, Fore The Kids Foundation the Philoptochos Society and Eleanor Shutz Memorial Fund. We’re grateful for the Children’s Services Fund of Jackson County for underwriting the expense of therapy and ensuring there is no cost for families.