COLLEGEVILLE, PA — In case you missed it, A Child’s Light has expanded its subsidized youth trauma treatment program into Montgomery County through a partnership with Collegeville-based coeo Therapy, giving children who have experienced severe trauma access to specialized mental health services in as little as five days rather than waiting months for care.
The nonprofit’s expansion establishes a local clinical partnership designed to reduce financial and scheduling barriers for families seeking trauma-informed therapy.
Under its existing model, A Child’s Light pays participating licensed therapists directly and covers the full cost of a child’s first 12 therapy sessions, typically delivered over three months.
The arrangement allows eligible children to begin treatment through a private network of clinicians without waiting for openings in traditional subsidized care programs, where the organization says delays can extend several months.
The Montgomery County partnership brings that approach to coeo Therapy, a practice founded in 2023 by Kristen Czech and Colleen Valerio.
The expansion addresses a documented need for services in the county. According to Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System, approximately 1,228 child abuse cases were filed in Montgomery County between 2019 and 2023.
Those figures reflect court filings rather than the total number of children who have experienced trauma, but they provide one measure of the local demand for specialized support.
“When a child experiences severe trauma, we cannot afford to wait several months for care,” said Leslie Holt, founder and executive director of A Child’s Light.
Holt said the partnership is part of the nonprofit’s effort to establish a regional model for providing treatment before the effects of trauma become more difficult to address.
coeo Therapy’s approach emphasizes relationships, emotional development and the broader circumstances affecting a child’s mental health rather than focusing exclusively on individual symptoms.
“When children aren’t given the relationships or space to understand their experience in language that is developmentally appropriate, trauma compounds,” Czech said.
Valerio said the partnership combines A Child’s Light’s ability to connect families with subsidized treatment and coeo Therapy’s clinical services.
“A Child’s Light has incredible expertise and access, and we can come in to provide therapy and healing,” Valerio said.
The arrangement expands A Child’s Light’s network of participating therapists while establishing a Montgomery County treatment option for children whose families might otherwise face lengthy waits or substantial out-of-pocket costs.
By financing an initial course of treatment and connecting families with local clinicians, the organizations aim to make early intervention more accessible following severe childhood trauma.
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