Certification FAQs

Any institution, regardless of size or level of resource, can apply for ChildKind certification.

First and foremost, certification offers a visible manifestation of the institution’s strong commitment to child comfort. Many families value that commitment when selecting a facility where their children will receive care. Certification also provides the opportunity to link with other hospitals that share similar values, to learn from their experiences and provide benchmarks for quality in pain assessment and treatment.

For more information on the value of ChildKind Certification, go to: Benefits of Certification

For institutions with multiple sites, if all in-patient and out-patient sites fall under the same organizational umbrella, ChildKind will consider certification across the entire organization. The most important factor we consider is evidence of an institution-wide commitment to pediatric pain prevention, assessment and treatment. The institution must demonstrate how all the sites of the organization are linked in fulfilling that commitment. Each site should be well represented within the overall application portfolio and at the site visit as well.

No, but there must be evidence in both the application and site visit, of an administrative and institution-wide commitment to pediatric pain assessment and treatment for all pediatric patients.

The overall timing depends on the readiness of the site. It typically takes a few months to prepare the portfolio; depending on the ease of access to policies and procedures and the availability of staff to collate it. Once the portfolio has been submitted, it will take 1-2 months for the ChildKind certification committee to review the application, determine if the criteria have been met, and schedule a site visit. Certification will be determined within 2-3 weeks of the site visit. In total the process takes 9-12 months.

If you are interested in applying for certification, you can start by directly emailing ChildKind at: info@childkindinternational.org. The Program Director will answer any questions you may have and will walk you through the initial steps of the certification process.

To learn more about the certification process, go to Certification home page.

Prior to officially applying for certification, your institution will fill out a “Gap Analysis Checklist”. This checklist is based on the 5 Principles of ChildKind, and will give you a sense of how many principles your institution currently meets. In addition to the checklist, a call with be scheduled with a ChildKind certification committee member to discuss the readiness of your institution.

The costs include 1) a $1,500 USD application fee, and 2) a $7,000 USD certification process fee plus reimbursement for site visit travel costs. If you feel your institution is a valid candidate for financial assistance, please contact us for information on sliding scale fee options.

There are currently no yearly maintenance fees associated with ChildKind certification.