Grief matters for children: Support for children in public care experiencing bereavement and loss
However, they did not feel confident in offering support to these young people, and felt that training in this was a necessity and should be available to all staff. In addition, very few felt they were sufficiently aware of their own needs to be able to offer the best support to the young people without training. They said that a training course should involve: •
developing an awareness of young people’s feelings and needs
•
touching on staff members’ personal awareness and needs
•
unpacking the skills of working with individuals and groups around bereavement topics
•
developing shared concepts and language
•
jointly developing shared guidelines and best practice
•
increasing staff confidence in areas of bereavement and loss.
Staff in the unit are currently developing this training with the help of the local Gone Forever Bereavement Trust.
What is the impact of training? Jigsaw4u used findings from the consultations they ran with children and young people and their carers to inform the development and piloting of a training day for foster carers. The day was organised through the foster care support team in a London borough and advertised to foster carers registered with the local authority. Fourteen carers signed up for the training, and nine attended on the day. Six of these carers were currently caring for a bereaved child, or had recent experience of this. Drawing on carers’ own experiences as well as those of the children they had supported, the day began with an exploration of the impact which change and loss have on feelings. This was followed by a discussion of research and statistics on the longer term impact of bereavement on children’s lives when it is not addressed. The relevance of these findings for the other losses in children’s lives was considered. A video on the impact of the death of a parent on the life of children and young people was watched and discussed. Carers then discussed a series of case studies of children and young people, looking at the impact of loss and trauma on their feelings and behaviour. This helped them to think about the relationship between the behaviour they noticed among the children in their care, and the children’s past history. The afternoon session looked at practical ways of offering support to children following bereavement and other significant losses. These included making memory boxes and salt jars (containing different coloured sands representing particular memories) and releasing balloons. While making their own salt jar, carers raised questions such as how to find time to talk to children about their experiences, and where to go for further support. www.ncb.org.uk
page 35 of 55
© National Children’s Bureau 2007