The Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) developed by Judi’s House/JAG Institute approximates rates of U.S. children who will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they reach adulthood. Each year, Judi’s House releases standard estimates of childhood bereavement rates in the U.S. and all 50 states, as well as a CBEM Key Topic Report exploring factor of interest, such as geography, cause of death, or race/ethnicity. This webinar reviews the 2026 CBEM Key Topic Report examining the relationship between childhood bereavement and county urbanization in the United States.

Urban, suburban, and rural counties face different challenges in addressing childhood bereavement. Less populated areas have fewer available services, and families often have to travel farther to access those services. More populated areas tend to have higher service concentration, but also more families seeking those services. Across all areas, cultural and socioeconomic factors shape service access patterns.

This webinar will present findings around CBEM estimates across different county types in each state. The presenters will review the process employed to create urbanization categories in each state, describe the methodology for the analyses, and summarize the results across the 50 states. Implications of the findings for families, community organizations, advocates, and policymakers will be explored along with recommendations for transformational change.

Continuing Education (CEs): 1.5 continuing education credits available
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Intermediate – This best describes a topic or issue that the audience likely has a theoretical foundation for understanding and/or a working knowledge
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

Cost: Free for All
Registration Deadline: October 29, 2026, at 12:59pm ET.

Objectives:

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the relationship between urbanization and childhood bereavement rates in U.S. states..
2. Quantify the magnitude of the difference in CBEM results for children in each US state’s lowest and highest county urbanization categories.
3. Propose policies and practices that can address childhood bereavement using county urbanization as an important context.

Speaker Bio:

Jeff Lin, PhD, is the Director of Evaluation and Research of Judi’s House/JAG Institute. He has a passion for applying research evidence to develop public policies and practices that best serve the community. With decades of experience working in partnership with public and non-profit agencies, he has seen the impact that good research can have on people’s lives.

Jeff was a sociology professor for 15 years, focusing his research and teaching on addressing pressing public issues such as criminal justice and youth services reforms. This experience deeply informs his commitment to producing data and evidence that can help bereaved children and families.

Michaeleen (Micki) Burns, PhD, is the Chief Executive Officer at Judi’s House/JAG Institute (JH/JAG) and adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado. JH/JAG is a comprehensive family bereavement center in Metro Denver. She serves on the board of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief and is an advisor to Speaking Grief, a national public media initiative seeking to the grief experience. A Licensed Psychologist with more than two decades of experience providing therapeutic assessment and support to families facing adversity, Micki has witnessed the lasting impact of unaddressed grief. Her practice is focused on supporting families who have experienced the loss of a child and specializes in working with those grieving suicide and overdose deaths. She is dedicated to ensuring appropriate care is available for all and raising childhood bereavement to a level of critical public importance. Before becoming the CEO, Micki oversaw the direct service, research, and training departments at JH/JAG, working towards a vision where no child is alone in grief.

Continuing Education (CE) Provider Information:

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by their licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend “live” (in real-time) to earn CEs. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE process, please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7221. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0689. Social Workers completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0238. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

National Alliance for Children’s Grief, #1819, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. National Alliance for Children’s Grief maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: 07/20/2026 – 07/20/2029. Social workers completing this course will receive 1.5 general continuing education credits.

Refund/cancellation policy: If you need to cancel your registration, please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688. Please note that no refunds will be given.

To request accessibility accommodations: The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is committed to providing universal access to all our events. Please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

System requirements: Participants must have access to a computer, tablet, or mobile device with a reliable internet connection, speakers and microphone, and a webcam for video participation. A device with at least a dual-core processor (2 GHz or higher), 4 GB of RAM, and 64-bit capability is recommended.

Attendance policy: To earn CEs for this event, you must attend the entirety of the event as demonstrated by your autogenerated login and logout time on the Zoom Webinar report and complete an online event evaluation within seven (7) days of the event. Please make sure you are signed into Zoom using the name that matches your professional license and not the name of your place of employment, as there is no way to verify your attendance after the fact if your name does not appear on the Zoom Webinar report. CE certificates will be sent out within 30 days of the educational event. The link for your certificate will come from “certificates@simplecert.net” as the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. Please be sure to add this email to your “safe sender list”. The NACG is unable to process certificates after 90 days from the date of the event. 

CE Certificate retrieval request: The NACG maintains continuing education records for at least six years from the date of completion of the educational event which include: the name and curriculum vitae of the presenter, a record of attendance, an outline of the course, date, and location of the course, and the number of hours for completion of the course. If you attended a CE educational event and need a copy of your CE certificate, please complete this form to obtain a copy: https://nacg.wufoo.com/forms/qfsln7r1twqpty/.
Please note: If the education event was more than 90 days ago, and a required evaluation was not completed, a certificate cannot be provided per the policy.

Grievance policy: Find the link to the NACG’s Continuing Education Grievance Policy HERE. Please complete THIS form to share a grievance with the NACG regarding a continuing education event.