Resources

Children and Youth Grief Network (CYGN)

CYGN aims to connect individuals and organizations who provide services and resources that benefit children and youth who are grieving a death.

• Grief and Death Education Tool Kit: Talking about Death, Dying and grief in the Classroom
• A Handbook for Volunteers: Supporting Children Grieving the Dying and Death of a Loved One
• A Handbook for Supporters: Extending Compassion & Care to Grieving Youth those who have received formalized training in the field of children and youth grief support
• Videos series to inform school staff on how to best support grieving children and youth in

Start the Talk - Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (CAPO)

Start the Talk: Supporting children and teens when a family member has cancer is a guide for educators, healthcare professionals, patients and those close to them. Aavailable in French and English.

Compassionate Ottawa

Compassionate Ottawa is working with school communities to support conversations about dying, death, loss and grief. Click here for a list of resources for schools.

Supporting a Grieving Child or Teen at School Grief Tip Sheet and other tip sheets for supporting grieving children and their families.

Developed by The Lighthouse for Grieving Children.

Supporting Grieving Students in Schools (4-page handout)

Developed by The Dr. Jay Children’s Grief Program

When Grief Goes to School: 5 Tips for Parents (2-page handout)

Developed by Sage Centre and Rosedale Hospice.

Understanding Suicide and Finding Help

Developed by the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Kids Help Phone

Free, anonymous and confidential professional phone counselling and online counselling, available 24/7 for kids and youth 20 years of age and younger.

Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868, to chat confidentially with a trained, volunteer Crisis Responder for support with any issue.

Child Bereavement UK

Child Bereavement UK offers bereavement resources, including a section for schools. Managing bereavement: A guide for schools offers guidance, support and information when a death occurs in the school community, when a school is facing an expected death or when a pupil is facing bereavement.

Cruse Bereavement Care

Offers support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies, including specific resources dedicated for schools regarding bereavement.

Child Bereavement UK

Support for when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement. The confidential #Helpline (0800 02 888 40) is open 9am-5pm every weekday. The #LiveChat service is open from 2-4pm every weekday.

National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (NCSCB)

NCSCB provides rapid response and ongoing support for crises such as natural disasters, shootings and other tragic events that can devastate schools and communities, and resources for educators and school staff nationwide. Their website has resources to help schools prepare and respond when a death has occurred.

Coalition to Support Grieving Students

Modules to support grieving students. Includes short handouts (2-5 pages) and video content.

The Dougy Center

The Dougy Center provides information for grieving children and families and educators.

• Helping the Grieving Student: A Guide for Teachers
• When Death Impacts Your School: A Guide for School Administrators

The Dougy Center’s School & Community toolkit is an online resource designed specifically for teachers, administrators, school counselors and community organizations to support students grieving the diagnosis or death of a family member, or someone in the school community

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

NCTSN’s mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States. They have developed resources to help educators, school staff, and administrators understand and respond to the specific needs of traumatized children.

The National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC)

(NAGC) is a nonprofit that educates, advocates and raises awareness about childhood bereavement.

Guidelines for responding to the death of a student or school staff (4-page document)

Brief Information on Childhood Traumatic Grief: For School Personnel

Brief Information on Childhood Traumatic Grief: For School Personnel (2-page information sheet) Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Coalition to Support Grieving Students

Advice line available free of charge to those in the United States.

Phone 877-53-NCSCB (877-536-2722).

The Irish Childhood Bereavement Network (ICBN)

The ICBN is a member organisation who share a vision that all children and young people, together with the adults in their lives, can easily access quality information, guidance and support to enable them to manage the impact of death on their lives.

The ICBN has also developed online resources for schools to help a teacher support a bereaved child and talk to the other students about what has happened.

Children’s Grief Centre

The Children’s Grief Centre is a support service for children and young people affected by loss through death, separation or divorce. It provides a safe and supportive place for children and young people and their families who are grieving.

They also have a resource specifically for guidance counsellers, “Bereavement: How Guidance Counsellors Can Support the Grieving Student”.

National Centre for Childhood Grief (NCCG)

The (NCCG) provides support in a safe place, where children grieving a death can share their experience, as they learn to live with its impact on their lives. The centre also provides education and training for individuals, schools and other organisations handling the grief of children and young people.

Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma, Loss and Grief Network

The network aims to achieve positive and hopeful outcomes for young people and their families experiencing trauma, loss and grief.

Their Schools and Trauma hub includes resources that have been brought together by experts in this field to support schools and staff in working with children experiencing grief, loss and trauma.