Youth Grief Education and Support

The population of children and teens experiencing the death of a loved one is rapidly growing. In response, Community Home Health and Community's behavioral health services have partnered to create Community Healing Hearts. Services are focused on supporting youth in telling their story, expressing feelings, using coping skills and addressing unfinished business.

Every child’s experience is unique, resulting in a range of responses that can span across academic, behavioral, emotional, spiritual and physical facets. By proactively providing grief support and education to children and adolescents, we may successfully prevent the need for long-term support services or mental health treatment.

Program Services

Thanks to ongoing generous funding support from the New York Life Foundation, Community Home Health and the Community Health Network Foundation, Community Healing Hearts continues to expand its grief and bereavement support services. The program currently offers school-based grief education programming and support groups throughout the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, as well as enhancing the grief and bereavement services to children and adolescents with a family member receiving hospice care through Community Home Health. Program services include:

• Educational resources and suggested readings
• Ten-week, school-based grief support groups focused on basic grief education, feelings expression and honoring the deceased
• Grief and bereavement home visits
• Phone consultations
• Bereavement newsletters
• Camp Erin Indianapolis weekend bereavement camp for kids ages 6 to 17
• Referrals to community resources such as behavioral health services and adult grief and bereavement services