Hospital Home > Patients/Families/Visitors > Support Groups

Support Groups

In addition to expert medical care, families with children with special health care needs may want to access family support resources. This support may be assistance with coordinating their child's needed services, help with thinking through and coping with special challenges, the opportunity to talk with other families who have managed similar health challenges or help securing information about available services. Several departments within Children's are focused on providing these helping services to families. The departments include the following:

Department Name Contact Information Description

Behavioral Health (locations and phone numbers listed below)

 

 

 Provides individual, family and group therapies for social, behavioral and emotional problems, psychological assessments, psychiatric consultations, treatment for victims of sexual abuse and adolescent sexual offenders, parent guidance, home-based services, divorce services, ADHD assessment and management, community support program for high-risk children, alcohol & drug services, Kinship Care Navigation program and Autism program.

East

 614-355-8100

East Central

 614-355-8080

Gahanna

614-475-7090

Hilliard

 614-355-8200

Newark

 740-522-3221

Northeast (Westerville)

 614-355-8300

Northwest (Dublin)

 614-355-8400
Clinical Services and Care Coordination   614-722-6300 or through your child's doctor or nurse The staff in Clinical Services and Care Coordination are available to help families secure and coordinate the health care and special services their children need. They provide needed support to families and assist them in overcoming problems that interfere with their ability to care for their children. The staff help families identify and secure needed hospital and community services and supports. Medical Social Workers, Nurse Case Managers, Nurse Practitioners, Utilization Review / Discharge Planning Nurses and Interpreters are members of the Clinical Services and Care Coordination Department.
Family and Volunteer Services 614-722-3635 or through your child's doctor or nurse The Family and Volunteer Services (FVS) Department staff and volunteers facilitate services and resources to sustain and enrich an environment for health care that is supportive of development, coping and comfort. Programs and services are directed to meet developmental, psychosocial, educational, and recreational needs of patients and families at Children's. The child life, early childhood development, school, and volunteer programs, and the gift shop are housed within FVS.
Healing Treasures  Pastoral Care
614.722.5250

Healing Treasures is a six-week family centered program to help brothers and sisters who have experienced the death of a sibling. Nationwide Children's has the only program in Columbus targeting the specific needs of sibling grief. Learn more.
Nurse-Family Partnership 614-722-8222 The Nurse-Family Partnership is a program for women who are having their first baby. The mother will visit with a specially trained nurse at home throughout the pregnancy and continue to visit until the child is two years old. The mother's partner, extended family and friends are encouraged to participate in the home visits, when the mother and nurse agree it is appropriate.

Download Informational Brochures:
Nurse-Family Partnership Brochure 
Nurse-Family Partnership Brochure (Español)

Learn More about the Nurse-Family Partnership Program
Pastoral Care 614-722-5250 or through your child's nurse Chaplains are available to offer emotional and spiritual support to families, patients and staff of Children's Hospital 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
Prevent Child Abuse Ohio

614-722-6800 or 1-800-CHILDREN  

 Prevent Child Abuse Ohio, which is the Ohio chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America, provides statewide and national advocacy, parent support services and a variety of educational forums for professionals, parents, children and the community.
Starlight Starbright  800-315-2580 

Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation launched a new-and-improved Starbright World, a safe and secure online community for seriously ill teens and their siblings.  A first-of-its-kind program when it debuted in 1996, Starbright World has provided thousands of sick teens with peer support through chat, instant message, bulletin boards, blogs, a message center and other tools.  The new Web-based technology enhances the user experience and increases Starbright World access to millions more sick teens worldwide. Teens who are seriously ill or have life threatening conditions and their siblings can register for free at: www.starbrightworld.org.


If you have any questions or need additional information, contact your health care provider or the Clinical Services and Care Coordination at Children's Hospital (614-722-6300). This information will be updated periodically. If you are aware of changes or additions to this list please complete the update form and we will contact you to get additional information.