The third Thursday of November is National Children’s Grief Awareness Day. This day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the painful impact that the death of a loved one has on a child and is an opportunity to ensure that children receive the supports they need. Growing Through Grief is a unique school-based grief support program funded through the Park Nicollet Foundation and operated through the Park Nicollet Hospice Program.

The program operates in 125 schools, serving over 900 students weekly through peer support groups and individual grief counseling. Growing Through Grief also provides a public health population approach to crisis support when a school community experiences the death of a classmate or faculty member. Schools are also adopting this approach in response to other common sources of grief such as community violence and ambiguous losses.

Join this special session to learn about the prevalence of childhood bereavement, how children grieve developmentally, ways individuals can help, and how systems can respond to this need.