Tools and Resources For Professionals
As a professional working with a child who is dealing with the death of a loved one, you may feel ill equipped to help a grieving child. Safe Crossings Foundation is here to help with educational materials, grants, and professional development.
Northwest Conference on Childhood Grief
Safe Crossings Foundation hosts an annual conference on childhood grief each spring. We focus on educating grief support providers and members of our community on new techniques and trends in the field of children’s grief support. Our intention is to build community by sharing ideas and leaning together in a supportive and welcoming environment.
Resources For Professionals
As a professional working with a child who is dealing with the death of a loved one, you may feel ill equipped on how to help a grieving child. You also may be looking for programs in the Puget Sound that provide individual, group or camp experiences specifically for grieving children and teens. The list of articles and links to other organizations listed below are resources to help you as you companion a child through the grief process.
Talking to kids when anticipating a death:
National Alliance for Grieving Children
- Activities to Use with Grieving Children and Teens – National Alliance for Grieving Children
- When there is a Crisis in Your Community – National Alliance for Grieving Children
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
Puget Sound Educational Service District
These are resources translated in Spanish:
Regional Services
Name | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
(425) 827-4937 | Bellevue | Youth Eastside Services provides counseling, substance abuse treatment, education and prevention, and psychiatric services in East King County. We work with youth ages birth to 22 and their families. |
Swedish/Edmonds Bereavement Program (425) 640-4404 | Edmonds | For people who are looking for a safe, confidential place to discuss the death of a loved one, and how they are coping. |
Evergreen Hospital and Medical Center (425) 899-1077 | Kirkland | Provides peer support groups for children and teens. Parents meet separately in their own group. Art, music, storytelling, and ritual are part of the healing process. |
(360) 493-5928 or (877) 620-3286 | Olympia | Offers a support program for children, adolescents and their families who are coping with a family member’s serious illness or grieving a loved one’s death. |
(360)358-3213 | Olympia | Leads safe, supportive wilderness trips for youth who are grieving a death, providing a unique experience of connection, support and challenge to help them heal. |
(206) 362-4047 | Seattle | Creates and distributes therapeutic books, supportive trainings and programs to help children dealing with the stress and strain of hardship and trauma. |
(206) 297-2100 | Seattle | Offers free classes, consultations, 24-hour support line, and community center for individuals and families who are living with cancer. |
Seattle Children's Hospital - Journey Program (206) 987-2062 | Seattle | Provides individual, couple and family support following the death of a child whether or not the child was cared for by Seattle Children’s Hospital. |
Cancer Pathways (Formerly known as Gilda's Club) (206) 709-1400 | Seattle | Provides education and emotional support resources for anyone touched by cancer. Free of charge support groups, classes, lectures, workshops, seminars, and social events. |
Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress (206) 744-1600 | Seattle | Provides services to help persons impacted by sexual assault and other traumatic events. |
(206) 523-1206 | Seattle | Provides a safe environment for people to move through their grief. Support groups for widowed men and women, teens and children; individual counseling services and family support. |
Inspire Youth Project (formerly Rise n’ Shine) (206) 628-8949 | Seattle | Provides emotional support and advocacy to children and teens at risk through support groups, mentor program, summer camp and teen program. Special programs for children affected by HIV/AIDS. |
Safe Crossings Program & Camp Erin-King County Safe Crossings Program (206) 225-5816 Camp Erin-King County (206) 749-7723 | Seattle | Provides services to children and families dealing with the terminal illness and/or death of a loved one from anticipatory stages of grief and throughout the bereavement process in the form of individual and group support sessions. |
(206) 223-6398 | Seattle | Provides counseling, psychiatric assessment and medication management to those who have lost loved ones due to sudden, violent death; primarily homicide survivors. |
(206) 461-8368 | Seattle | Formally Forefront Cares, Crisis Connections, formerly known as Crisis Clinic, was founded is one of the oldest Crisis Lines in the nation, and home to five programs focused on serving the emotional and physical needs of individuals across Washington State. |
Providence Hospice & Home Care of Snohomish (425) 261-4800. | Snohomish | Provides grief support and education for adults and children. |
(253) 403-1966 | Tacoma | Offers support groups for children ages 4–18 who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling or who are living with someone who is seriously ill. |
National Services
Name | Description |
|---|---|
Eluna launched the first Camp Erin in 2002 in Snohomish, WA. Camp Erin has since grown into the largest national bereavement program for youth grieving the death of a significant person in their lives. In 2015, Camp Erin served 3,000 kids during 51 sessions at 46 camp locations. Recognizing that the grief journey for these families does not end after the last s’more, Eluna recently launched a robust online library inviting visitors to receive a personalized set of resources, as well as a warm hand-off to hundreds of well-vetted, local and national support organizations. Visit the Eluna Resource Center by clicking here. | |
The National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC) promotes awareness of the needs of children and teens grieving a death and provides education and resources for anyone who wants to support them. The NAGC provides a network for nationwide communication between hundreds of professionals and volunteers who want to share ideas, information and resources with each other to better support the grieving children and families they serve in their own communities. Through this network, the NAGC offers online education, hosts an annual symposium on children’s grief, maintains a national data base of children’s bereavement support programs and promotes national awareness to enhance public sensitivity to the issues impacting grieving children and teens. | |
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline | 1.800.SUICIDE or 1.800.273.TALK |
1.800.442.HOPE | |