Supporting Schools in the Aftermath of Crisis
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 (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
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
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Objectives:
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe your program’s goal and strategy for consultation to schools after a crisis involving school or community violence.
- Outline practical advice and support that can be provided to staff, grieving students, and their families in this context.
- List 2-3 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.
Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.
This playback is available to active NACG members only.
