Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Soar Autism Center launch early autism care network

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has partnered with Soar Autism Center to expand access to early autism care in the Philadelphia region through a new network of integrated outpatient therapy centers.

Announced today, CHOP and the Arizona/Colorado-based early development network Soar Autism came together with the goal of addressing long wait times and limited access to coordinated autism services following diagnosis. The partnership will create the CHOP-Soar Autism Center network, which will combine medical oversight with therapy services to support families during early childhood.

The CDC states that roughly 1 in 31 children aged 8 years has been identified with autism. CHOP noted that families of children with autism tend to face delays in care after diagnosis as they search for therapy services that are coordinated, evidence-based and accessible. Long waitlists are common and can prevent children from receiving support during critical developmental years.

According to the news release sharing the announcement, the CHOP-Soar partnership is designed to close that delay gap by bringing medical and therapeutic services together as one delivery model.

Each CHOP-Soar autism center will offer speech, occupational and behavioral therapy for children up to 6 years old. Services will be delivered under one roof through full- and half-day program options, using a research-based, play-focused approach intended to help children develop communication, social and cognitive skills in a supportive environment.

The first CHOP-Soar Autism Center opened in early January near CHOP Pediatric Primary Care in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Additional locations are planned over time across CHOP’s existing footprint, allowing the health system to expand autism care access without building new programs entirely on its own, they claimed.

“At CHOP, we are committed to delivering the best possible care for our patients, and we recognize that families in the autism community often struggle to access the services and therapy they need,” Nathan J. Blum, M.D., chief of the division of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in the release.

Under the model, therapists at each center will work directly with a child’s medical team to coordinate care. That team could include providers within the CHOP primary care network, the CHOP Autism Integrated Care Program or other care providers involved in the child’s treatment.

CHOP shared the goal is to ensure families receive consistent and comprehensive support throughout diagnosis and therapy.

Blum shared the partnership builds on CHOP’s long-standing investment in autism research and clinical care. For example, the hospital is home to the Center for Autism Research and the recently developed Lurie Autism Institute—a research hub dedicated to advancing autism care and science.

Soar Autism Center was founded in Denver, Colorado, and brings multiple therapy services together in a single setting at their more than 20 locations. Its co-founder and CEO, Ian Goldstein, M.D., M.P.H., said effective and compassionate care has always been at the forefront for the children they assist. He added the partnership will allow them to elevate their focus with CHOP’s “unmatched clinical and research excellence.”

The partnership, overall, reflects a broader strategy among health systems to address rising demand for pediatric behavioral health services through collaboration rather than expansion. The CHOP-Soar Autism Center network aims to build a care model that can grow over time, cut down wait times for services and help families receive coordinated support when early care can make a real difference for a child’s development.