PASS Study FAQs

The goal of the PASS Study is to increase access to high-quality behavioral health services and to improve outcomes for low-income families of children with ADHD by providing services integrated into primary care. Specifically, the PASS Study compares an integrated, enhanced behavior therapy to usual care. Learn more.

PASS stands for Partnering to Achieve School Success, and it is an enhanced behavior therapy program delivered through primary care for families of children with ADHD. Enhancements include motivation techniques and access to a Community Health Partner to promote family engagement in treatment, team-based care, and ongoing performance feedback for PASS clinicians to ensure high quality, culturally responsive care. PASS clinicians are licensed psychologists and clinical social workers credentialed to practice at CHOP within the Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids program.

Usual care refers to typical primary care services informed by American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for the treatment of ADHD. These services might include a referral to CHOP’s Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids program, medication management, or a referral to community-based services.

The PASS program is offered through the Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids (HMHK) program, which is CHOP’s integrated behavioral health service in primary care. HMHK is a program at CHOP that integrates behavioral health services within 14 primary care practices across the CHOP Care Network, including the seven target practices: Cobbs Creek, Drexel Hill, Media, Broomall, Karabots, Roxborough, and South Philadelphia. Learn more.

In comparison to standard HMHK, the PASS program offers:

• More therapy sessions for most patients
• Longer therapy sessions
• Access to a Community Health Partner
• More supervision and performance feedback for clinicians

Our study aims to determine whether these PASS enhancements will be beneficial to offer to families of children with ADHD in the future.

The PASS program is offered at the Cobbs Creek, Drexel Hill, Media, Broomall, Karabots, Roxborough, South Philadelphia, Norristown and CHOP Campus primary care practices in the CHOP Care Network. PASS sessions are offered in one-hour time slots from morning to early evening throughout the week. Families are offered up to 12 sessions over the four-month treatment period. PASS sessions will be billed to the child’s mental health insurance. Families will be responsible for paying the copay or coinsurance, if applicable.

It is recommended that your child attends the first PASS session, and your child’s attendance at later sessions will be discussed with your PASS clinician based on your treatment goals.

Other children and family members can attend PASS sessions.

In order to participate, the child must receive a study referral from a primary care clinician or behavioral health clinician at one of the seven participating primary care practices: Cobbs Creek, Drexel Hill, Media, Broomall, Karabots, Roxborough, South Philadelphia.

If you are interested in participating and your child receives care at one of the five participating CHOP practices, you can request a referral from your child’s pediatrician. After a family is referred to the study, a team member will contact the parent/legal guardian for a screening interview over the telephone to see if they are a good fit for the study.

Initial eligibility criteria include:

• Child has been diagnosed with ADHD
• Child is between ages 5 to 11 years
• Child receives their primary care at one of the seven target primary care practices
• Child is not already receiving counseling or therapy

Our study is focused on behavior therapy for ADHD, so children who do or do not receive medication for ADHD can participate.

If a family agrees to participate in the study, they will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a coin, 50/50 chance) to one of the two treatment groups: (1) PASS or (2) Usual Care.

Families in EITHER group will participate in the study for about eight months from time of enrollment. During this time, families will participate in their assigned treatment and complete questionnaires.

Families are randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups: (1) PASS or (2) Usual Care. Random assignment means that a family as a 50/50 chance (like the flip of a coin) of being assigned to either group. Random assignment is performed by a computer program, and neither the family, study team, nor clinicians have control over the family’s treatment group assignment.

The study compares the two treatments, PASS vs. Usual Care. It is not currently known which works better. Both the PASS program and Usual Care have previously been found to be helpful for families of children with ADHD.

With the permission of the student’s parent/legal guardian, our team will contact the student’s school and teacher to ask if they would like to be involved in the study. If the school and teacher agree to participate, we will collect the student’s report card grades and ask the teacher to complete questionnaires about the student’s behavior.

Primary care and behavioral health clinicians can refer patients to the study directly via InBasket message in the electronic health record or email to PASSStudy@email.chop.edu. Alternatively, when an encounter is opened in the electronic health record with a patient who meets initial eligibility, a study referral tool will automatically appear as a Best Practice Advisory prompt.

Families do not need to participate in the study to receive care at CHOP and will not be penalized if they decide not to participate or change their minds later.

School principals are not required to give permission to contacting teachers or accessing student’s grades. Teachers are also not required to participate in the study.

Parents/legal guardians and teachers will receive payment loaded onto an electronic bankcard for completing questionnaires at each time point. Children will receive a small toy prize for completing questionnaires at each time point.

Families, schools, and teachers can change their minds and withdraw from the study at any time, without penalty. Any information that has already been collected will still be used, if necessary, for the research study.