Grief Support Services
School Programs
Coping with death – the death of a student, a student’s parent or sibling, a teacher or staff member – is an unfortunate reality for school communities. According to Judi’s House/JAG Institute’s 2021 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) results, 1 in 13 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. Children and teens whose grief goes unattended, are often at risk – emotionally, physically, socially and academically.
Willow House school-based programs are designed to provide school personnel with the understanding and the tools they need to effectively support grieving students. Willow House has a long history of responding to schools needing immediate crisis support, professional development, and education on how to support a grieving student.
As advocates for grieving children and teens, we believe that students are best served when schools are proactive in their efforts to educate staff about the needs of grieving children and teens. Schools can be a natural and comfortable setting for students in need. Well-informed teachers and school personnel can be an important source of support.
Please see below to learn more about Willow House’s offerings in Lake County and Cook County (north of I-290)
- What is the typical school need? Schools wanting to learn more about grief and how to support grieving students
- Description/Benefits: An informative educational opportunity to further your understanding of how children and teens understand and process death loss and how best to support them in the academic environment
- Who is it for?: Teachers, admin, mental health professionals, leadership teams
- Requirements: At least 10 attendees
- Cost: $225/hr
- Location: Virtual or in-person
- What is the typical school need? Schools looking for an outside organization to facilitate a grief support group for kids who have lost a parent and/or sibling
- Description/Benefits: A qualified Willow House clinician will provide a structured 8 Week Grief Group Curriculum to support a group of grieving students. Topics covered throughout the group may include grief education, identifying and expressing emotions, developing coping strategies, telling their story, recognizing and commemorating special days, preserving memories of the person who has died, while decreasing the feeling of isolation and building connections with those around the student.
- Who is it for?: Students ages 3-18 who have lost a parent/caregiver and/or sibling
- Requirements: At least 5 students within one of these developmental groups-
- Pre-K – 2nd
- 3rd-6th
- 7th-12th
- Cost: $1500 per 8 Week Program
- Location: In-person at your school
- What is the typical school need? a school clinician who is interested in partnering with Willow House to not only facilitate a grief group for students but learn best practices for supporting grieving students
- Description/Benefits: A qualified Willow House clinician will provide a structured 8 Week Grief Group Curriculum and will work collaboratively with a clinician from your school to support a group of grieving students. Topics covered throughout the group may include grief education, identifying and expressing emotions, developing coping strategies, telling their story, recognizing and commemorating special days, preserving memories of the person who has died, while decreasing the feeling of isolation and building connections with those around the student. School partners will receive access to additional resources following completion of the program.
- Who is it for?: Students as young as 3 years who have lost a parent/caregiver and/or sibling
- Requirements: At least 5 students within one of these developmental groups
Pre-K – 2nd
3rd-6th
7th-12th - Cost: $2,000 per 8 Week Program
- Location: In-person at your school
- What is the typical school need? Caregivers of students who are looking to understand how to talk with and support their children through a death loss
- Description/Benefits: An informative educational opportunity to further support grieving children at home. Topics may include children’s understanding of death, coping strategies, developmental considerations and Q&A.
- Who is it for?: Caregivers who are actively supporting a grieving child(s) or just interested in learning more
- Requirements: At least 10 attendees
- Location: Virtual or in-person
- Cost: $225/hr
- What is the typical school need? for those looking to take a deeper dive into children’s grief in an online asynchronous course to earn optional CEU’s; those that fall outside our area of service
- Description/Benefits: Willow House offers a virtual program that delivers online training and resources to facilitate children’s grief support groups across diverse clinical settings.The online training comprises three primary modules that incorporate diverse learning methods such as recorded presentations, practical assignments and discussions, videos, handouts, quizzes, and supplementary resources. Following completion, Trainees are asked to commit to leading grief support groups and providing data to Willow House.
- Who is it for?: Mental health professionals
- Requirements:
- Complete 11 hours of on-demand training modules, required application assignments and quizzes
- Commit to offering grief support groups within your community following your completion of the training
- Submit data to Willow House for all groups facilitated
- Attend monthly online connection calls with other participants in the training (optional)
- Location: Virtual (asynchronous)
- Cost: starting at $300
- What is the typical school need? Schools who have just lost a student or staff member and want to host a dedicated space for processing following loss
- Who is it for? Students and staff
- Requirements: At least 10 attendees
- Cost: No-cost for a 1 hour debrief session
- What is the typical school need? Specific questions about supporting students, preparing for a loss, responding to a loss, etc.
- Who is it for? Teachers, mental health professionals, leadership teams
- Cost: No-cost for a 30 minute consultation call
Contact our Clinical School/Community Program Coordinator:
Mackenzie Liberta, MA, CCLS, GC-C
mackenzieliberta@willowhouse.
Join a Support Group
For more information regarding services or if you would like to inquiry about joining a group for yourself or family, please call (847) 236-9300, email [email protected] or submit an inquiry below.
So no child grieves alone.
Bring hope and healing to youth and families who are grieving the death of a parent, sibling or child. Your donation allows us to continue to offer our services at no cost and to provide education, training and consultation to the schools and other communities seeking to support these families effectively.