Dogs for Joy Grant

The Dogs for Joy Grant, funded by the Joy in Childhood Foundation, supports the integration of trained facility dogs in pediatric hospitals. These dogs provide emotional support, help children cope with medical procedures, and enhance overall well-being. The program aims to increase the presence of in-residence dogs, as research highlights their positive impact on reducing anxiety and improving patient outcomes. Grants typically cover multi-year funding, promoting innovative animal-assisted therapy approaches in healthcare settings.

The Dogs for Joy™ program has funded over 40 in-resident facility dogs at hospitals across the country. A facility dog is professionally trained to work in a healthcare setting. Unlike volunteer dogs that visit a hospital or medical center for a short time, facility dogs are at the hospital every day with their handlers. In most cases they are used exclusively for clinical work.
The dogs can physically interact with patients to provide comfort and love. These dogs are trained to help with tasks like teaching kids how to take medication, keeping a child calm during medical intervention and providing incentives for kids to get out of bed for a walk. These dogs serve as a source of happiness and provide a sense of normalcy for patients.
Research shows that animal-assisted therapy can lower stress and anxiety levels, affect blood pressure, increase patient mobility, and provide an alternative focus from pain. They help patients lower their stress and anxiety and encourage them to complete their health care goals.
What is an in-residence dog?
In-residence dogs are highly trained service dogs that work in healthcare settings and perform specialized tasks. In children’s hospitals, they are full-time employees of the hospital who come to work every day like their human counterparts and can be a critical part of a child’s treatment team. In-residence dog handlers are typically child life specialists, chaplains, social workers or physicians.
What kinds of tasks do in-residence dogs perform in children’s hospitals?
In-residence dogs not only bring immeasurable joy to pediatric patients, they also perform clinical interventions like keeping a kids calm during medical interventions, teach pediatric patients how to take a pill, model how to put on a hospital gown or provide an incentive for a child to get out of bed for a walk.
Why is the Joy in Childhood Foundation investing in in-residence dogs?
The Foundation continually evaluates all of its programs and conducts needs assessments to ensure our giving is as impactful as possible. We evaluated our Dogs for Joy program, talking to doctors, nurses, child life specialists and patients, and a few themes emerged – one of those was the incredible healing and joy-enhancing power of dogs in pediatric hospital settings. Despite their tremendous potential, in-residence dog programs are relatively new. Out of more than 220 children’s hospitals in the United States, few have in-residence dog programs. The Foundation’s goal is to fill this unmet need by dramatically increasing the number of in-residence dog programs in pediatric hospitals around the country and the prevalence of animal-assisted therapy as part of treatment.
Funding
The grants are structured for multi-year programming over three years. Grant amounts vary but typically range from $50,000-$60,000 for year one and $15,000-$25,000 for years 2 and 3 (for one dog). Grants do not exceed $150,000. Veterinary costs can be budgeted for in your grant application.

Eligibility

The Joy in Childhood Foundation’s Dogs for Joy™ program is a grant program for hospitals aimed at increasing the number of dogs who work full-time in children’s hospitals to bring joy to kids battling illness.To be eligible, applicants must be a children’s hospital or general hospital with a dedicated pediatric department and be within geographic proximity to Dunkin’ locations.