Recognize Certified Child Life Specialists as Essential in Pediatric Healthcare
The Issue
Every child and family deserves access to a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) during their most vulnerable moments. For too long, children and their families have suffered unnecessary medical trauma because the value of child life has gone ignored - with hospitals now choosing to hire non-credentialed staff and grifters taking advantage of families with deceptive marketing schemes in place of expert developmental + psychosocial care.
Certified Child Life Specialists are more than just supportive staff; they are the psychological, emotional, and developmental first responders for children in medical settings (as well as community settings around the country). Their evidence-based, specialized training helps inform developmental outcomes, neuroprotection strategies, stress/trauma reduction, and developmentally-informed psychosocial care resulting in better overall health outcomes. Research has shown that integrating CCLSs into healthcare teams leads to reduced short-and-long term trauma, accelerated healing, improved patient satisfaction, and lower healthcare costs, including savings for federally funded programs like Medicaid.
Moreover, this acknowledgment is not only important for the families who deserve qualified professionals to support them, but also for the specialists themselves. CCLSs are skilled, credentialed professionals who deserve a living wage commensurate with their essential role because providing developmental and psychosocial care, including interventions explicitly for the purposes of psychological and emotional safety, is a critical component of economically efficient, high-quality patient- and family-centered care.
It is time for healthcare institutions and policymakers to recognize the proven benefits of employing Certified Child Life Specialists and ensure that every pediatric patient and their family have access to such critical support. This change not only promises economic benefits for healthcare systems but also enhances the quality of care and quality of life for countless children, siblings, parents, and loved ones.
Please sign this petition to urge healthcare institutions and government agencies to officially recognize Certified Child Life Specialists as essential to pediatric healthcare by passing House Resolution [insert number here].
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The Issue
Every child and family deserves access to a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) during their most vulnerable moments. For too long, children and their families have suffered unnecessary medical trauma because the value of child life has gone ignored - with hospitals now choosing to hire non-credentialed staff and grifters taking advantage of families with deceptive marketing schemes in place of expert developmental + psychosocial care.
Certified Child Life Specialists are more than just supportive staff; they are the psychological, emotional, and developmental first responders for children in medical settings (as well as community settings around the country). Their evidence-based, specialized training helps inform developmental outcomes, neuroprotection strategies, stress/trauma reduction, and developmentally-informed psychosocial care resulting in better overall health outcomes. Research has shown that integrating CCLSs into healthcare teams leads to reduced short-and-long term trauma, accelerated healing, improved patient satisfaction, and lower healthcare costs, including savings for federally funded programs like Medicaid.
Moreover, this acknowledgment is not only important for the families who deserve qualified professionals to support them, but also for the specialists themselves. CCLSs are skilled, credentialed professionals who deserve a living wage commensurate with their essential role because providing developmental and psychosocial care, including interventions explicitly for the purposes of psychological and emotional safety, is a critical component of economically efficient, high-quality patient- and family-centered care.
It is time for healthcare institutions and policymakers to recognize the proven benefits of employing Certified Child Life Specialists and ensure that every pediatric patient and their family have access to such critical support. This change not only promises economic benefits for healthcare systems but also enhances the quality of care and quality of life for countless children, siblings, parents, and loved ones.
Please sign this petition to urge healthcare institutions and government agencies to officially recognize Certified Child Life Specialists as essential to pediatric healthcare by passing House Resolution [insert number here].
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Petition created on October 4, 2026