The Center for Childhood Development

What The Center for Childhood Development does

The Center for Childhood Development is a privately-held, owner-operated pediatric therapy practice headquartered in Jenison, Michigan, founded by occupational therapist Molly Buist. The organization delivers interdisciplinary therapy services—feeding therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language therapy—to children from birth through adolescence with developmental, sensory, neurological, and behavioral conditions including autism spectrum disorder, ADD/ADHD, speech and language differences, sensory processing challenges, motor delays, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. Service delivery is grounded in a developmental, relationship-based framework incorporating DIRFloortime, Theraplay, Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS), PROMPT, Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), and other specialized methodologies.

The practice's core technology is its clinical methodology stack rather than software or AI; proprietary and credentialed approaches include VitalStim neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for dysphagia (launched January 2025 at Jenison and Holland), and multiple therapist certifications in NDT, Theraplay, DIRFloortime, VitalStim, Handwriting Without Tears, Social Thinking, and Therapeutic Listening. Patient intake is managed through a Raintree patient portal, and the Jenison campus co-hosts Anchored Family Psychology and Counseling Associates, enabling integrated psychological and developmental treatment planning.

The business model is fee-for-service pediatric therapy billed primarily through insurance (in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Priority Health, United Health Care, and others), supplemented by out-of-pocket payments and Family Hope Foundation scholarships for families with financial need. Distribution is direct-to-consumer across three West Michigan clinic locations (12,000 sq ft Jenison HQ, 2,500 sq ft Holland, 1,100 sq ft Kalamazoo). Go-to-market is hybrid: sales-led through healthcare-provider referral pipelines (including a dedicated fax line) combined with community-led content marketing (blog, Instagram, Facebook). The company has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and no acquisition history.

Name

The Center for Childhood Development

Legal name

The Center for Childhood Development

Website

https://thecenterforcd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Childhood Development is a private pediatric therapy practice in West Michigan providing feeding, occupational, physical, and speech-language therapy services to children from birth through adolescence across three clinic locations in Jenison, Holland, and Kalamazoo.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Therapy Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Pediatric Rehabilitation & Developmental Therapy Centers (PT/OT/SLP) (HLAFAJAL)

Keywords

• Pediatric therapy services
• Speech language therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Feeding therapy
• Physical therapy

Headquarters

HQ city

Jenison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Insurance-Billed Therapy Services: The primary revenue stream is insurance-billed therapy services. They accept multiple major insurance providers including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Priority Health, United Health Care, and others. Services are billed per session or evaluation, with coverage varying by insurance policy and diagnosis codes.
2. Out-of-Pocket Payment: For clients with insurance plans not in-network, or when insurance does not cover services, payment is out-of-pocket at time of treatment. Clients may submit itemized bills for potential reimbursement from their insurance carrier.
3. Family Hope Foundation Scholarships: Partnership with Family Hope Foundation provides scholarship funding for families who cannot afford therapy services, enabling access to care for children regardless of financial background.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Center for Childhood Development is an interdisciplinary pediatric therapy practice that provides feeding, occupational, physical, and speech-language therapy services to children from birth through adolescence across three West Michigan locations. Services are delivered by a collaborative team of therapists using specialized approaches such as DIRFloortime, Theraplay, SOS feeding, VitalStim NMES, and sensory integration to address developmental delays, autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and motor/speech challenges.

Product overview

The Center for Childhood Development is an interdisciplinary pediatric therapy center offering a unified set of therapy services for children from birth through adolescence. The organization provides four core therapy services: Feeding Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech-Language Therapy. These services are delivered through an interdisciplinary, team-based approach that addresses attention, cognition, social-emotional, language-communication, motor/sensory processing, play, and behavior skills. The center operates three locations in West Michigan (Jenison, Holland, and Kalamazoo) and partners with Anchored Family Psychology and Counseling Associates for psychological evaluation and treatment. Recently, the center added VitalStim Therapy as a specialized treatment offering for dysphagia at the Holland and Jenison locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Feeding Therapy Feeding therapy helps children with feeding, eating, and swallowing difficulties learn to interact with food in a safe and stress-free way. It is for pediatric patients with feeding difficulties, dysphagia, and related challenges, and incorporates approaches such as Sequential Oral Sensory Approach (SOS), Food Chaining, DIRFloortime, Oral Motor Treatments, and VitalStim.
• Occupational Therapy Pediatric occupational therapy services that help children enhance their abilities to participate in daily life activities including self-care, play, school, and family/social activities. It serves children with sensory processing, motor, behavioral, and self-regulation challenges, using approaches such as Theraplay, Sensory Processing, Handwriting Without Tears, Social Thinking, Therapeutic Listening, and Interactive Metronome.
• Physical Therapy Pediatric physical therapy assists children with musculoskeletal, neurological, and orthopedic diagnoses in reaching maximum potential for independent function. It serves children with motor delays, torticollis, toe walking, and gross motor difficulties, incorporating approaches such as Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), Myofascial Release, Muscle Energy Technique, and Kinesio Taping.
• Speech-Language Therapy Speech-language therapy helps children communicate more effectively, addressing articulation delays through more involved difficulties such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech. It serves children with articulation disorders, language delays, apraxia, stuttering, and communication challenges, using approaches including PROMPT, Talk Tools, SCERTS, Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC).
• VitalStim Therapy A specialized neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapeutic intervention used to treat dysphagia (swallowing difficulties). It uses an external device that provides electrical stimulation to educate throat muscles needed for swallowing, with custom-designed electrodes placed on the surface of the neck/throat. It is for children with dysphagia and is currently available at Holland and Jenison locations.

Named customers2 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Family Hope FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Non-profit partnership providing scholarship funding for children to receive therapy services at The Center. Family Hope Foundation was co-founded by Molly Buist in 2010 to address financial barriers to therapy. The partnership enables The Center to serve children regardless of families' financial circumstances, with scholarships covering therapy costs twice yearly.
• Anchored Family Psychology and Counseling AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Partnership with psychologists and social workers for psychological evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. Anchored Family is conveniently located in the Jenison location of The Center. The partnership enables comprehensive, integrative treatment planning between therapy disciplines and psychological services. Services at Anchored Family are billed separately.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Centria Healthcare: Michigan-based national pediatric autism and behavioral health provider offering ABA, speech, and occupational services. Directly comparable multi-state pediatric therapy clinic operator with overlapping patient populations and insurance-billed revenue model.
• Caravel Autism Health: Multi-site pediatric autism and developmental therapy provider across the Midwest and beyond. Directly comparable as a scaled clinic operator serving similar developmental-delay pediatric populations via insurance-billed services.
• Acorn Health: Multi-state pediatric ABA and autism therapy provider. Comparable as a clinic-based pediatric therapy operator targeting autism/developmental delay populations with insurance-funded reimbursement.
• BlueSprig Pediatrics: Large national pediatric therapy provider focused on autism and developmental services. Directly comparable as a clinic-based, multi-disciplinary pediatric therapy operator with similar referral-driven GTM and insurance-billed model.
• Hopebridge: National multi-site provider of pediatric autism and developmental therapy (ABA, OT, SLP). Directly comparable multi-disciplinary pediatric therapy clinic model scaled across multiple U.S. states, with similar developmental-delay target populations.
• Mary Free Bed Kids: Pediatric rehabilitation arm of Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation, also based in Grand Rapids, MI. Directly comparable as a multi-disciplinary pediatric PT/OT/SLP provider serving West Michigan families, with greater hospital-system scale.

Emerging players

• Cortica: Emerging neurodevelopmental therapy provider combining medical, behavioral, and developmental therapies for children with autism and related conditions. Comparable interdisciplinary model and developmental-delay focus, though more technology-enabled and earlier-stage in footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Easter Seals: National nonprofit incumbent providing disability and pediatric therapy services (OT, PT, SLP) across a wide affiliate network. Comparable therapy service offerings but operates as a broader portfolio with many programs beyond pediatric rehab.
• Helen DeVos Children's Hospital: Grand Rapids-based children's hospital within Corewell Health, offering pediatric specialty and rehabilitation services. Comparable in serving the same West Michigan pediatric population, with broader hospital-based infrastructure but less specialized outpatient therapy focus.

Regional players

• Munson Healthcare Pediatric Rehabilitation: Northern Michigan-based health system offering pediatric OT, PT, and SLP services. Comparable therapy disciplines and patient population, but serves a different Michigan geography and operates inside a hospital system rather than an independent private practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/thecenterforcd
• Instagraminstagram.com/thecenterforcd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thecenterforcd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Center for Childhood Development