American Hospice Foundation, Washington DC, USA

In this corner of our website, you will find materials to help address children's grief, including articles, tools, resources such as guidelines for running a grief support group for teens, fact sheets and more.  We invite you to click on a menu item at left to begin browsing through our materials.

Failure to address the needs of grieving children can have short-term effects on their school performance and serious consequences later in life.  Schools can play a vital role in helping their pupils come to terms with losses and preparing them for life’s inevitable tragedies.  Teachers, counselors, and other school personnel have considerable influence in the lives of students, especially for those for whom school assumes the importance of family.  Children often look to their teachers and counselors when they need help in overcoming problems that are difficult to discuss at home. 

By introducing classroom lessons about grief and loss, and responding appropriately when a child has suffered a loss, school personnel can encourage open discussions and enable students to develop healthy coping skills.  Our Grief at School section has been developed to provide some helpful resources to that end.

The American Hospice Foundation publishes a variety of materials for purchase through Kendall Hunt Publishing that can further aid you in addressing children's grief.  Our CD-ROM self-study course, Grief at School: A Self-Study Toolkit for School-Based Professionals, outlines the basics of grief responses in children, describes interventions and activities, and provides guidance in building a crisis team.  It also offers access to continuing education credits.  Other Grief at School materials can be found on our Publications and Products page.

On-site professional training is also available from the American Hospice Foundation.  Please visit our Courses and Workshops page for more information.