Children’s bereavement centers/programs/providers can play an important role in supporting a school after a major crisis event due to school or community violence.  The following topics will be covered: how you and your center/program can prepare for consultation in this context; practical advice and support that can be provided to staff, students, and families;  clarifying the distinction between trauma and grief; the potential goals of grief support in schools; providing training and professional development to educators on how to support grieving students using freely available resources; considerations related to commemoration and memorialization; and promoting staff support and professional self-care for educators.  Guidance on when and how to seek additional support, including partnering with the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, during short- and long-term recovery will be discussed.  The session will also address how to advise schools and caregivers on how to talk to children who are only indirectly impacted by violence through the news or social media.  Ample time will be provided for questions and discussion.

Continuing Education (CEs) Available: 1.5 hours pending
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.

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Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Outline your program’s goals and strategies for consultation to schools after a crisis involving school or community violence
• Describe practical advice and support that can be provided to staff, grieving students, and their families in this context
• List appropriate goals for training of educators to support grieving students and freely available training materials
• Describe when and how to partner with the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement or similar resource to support short- and long-term recovery within the school
• Advise schools and caregivers on how to talk to children indirectly impacted by violence through news or social media

Speaker Bio:

David J Schonfeld, MD, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, founded the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (www.schoolcrisiscenter.org) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The NCSCB coordinates the Coalition to Support Grieving Students which is comprised of over 140 professional organizations representing educators, medical professionals, and other interested groups.  For 35 years, he’s supported schools/communities after crises and loss, including the COVID-19 pandemic, shootings/stabbings in Winder, GA, Parkland, FL, Santa Clarita, CA, Newtown, CT, Las Vegas, NV, Aurora, CO, & Osaka, Japan; hurricanes Helene (TN), Maria (San Juan), Sandy (NYC/NJ), Katrina (New Orleans), & Ike (Galveston); tornadoes in Joplin, MO & Alabama; wildfires in Maui, HI, Butte & Sonoma Counties, CA, Sevierville, TN; & Sichuan, China earthquake.  His school-based research (e.g., funded by NICHD, NIMH, NIDA, MCHB, WT Grant) involves children’s understanding of and adjustment to serious illness and death and school-based interventions to promote adjustment and risk prevention.  He is Chair of National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters and a member of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children and Disasters, and former Commissioner for the National Commission on Children and Disasters and Sandy Hook Advisory Commission.

Continuing Education (CE) Provider Information:

Continuing education credits have been applied for with the following agencies.

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: 07/20/2023 – 07/20/2026. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 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.

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:  To view the NACG’s Continuing Education Grievance Policy, you can find it HERE. Please complete THIS form to share a grievance with the NACG regarding a continuing education event.