According to the Childhood Bereavement Model (CBEM), 1 in 13, a full 5.6 million and nearly 8%, of children in the United States will endure the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 18.  In 2021, 1,192 children were bereaved every single day.  Meanwhile, Covid only made matters that much worse with more than 72,000 children in the US losing a parent.

​

These children are at a far higher risk of many negative outcomes, including, depression, anxiety[1], somatic complaints, incarceration, shorter schooling and poor school attendance, less academic success, lower self-esteem[2], more sexual risk behaviors and suicide. 

 

When children experience such a devastating death, they not only face the loss of a loved one (the primary loss), but they also experience the loss of what that loved one would have brought into their lives (the secondary loss).  Common forms of secondary loss include:

• An altered lifestyle – the financial status of the family may change including relocation to another school or neighborhood;

• Lost connection to friends and relatives of the person who has died;

• Decreased availability of the surviving family members – often surviving parents must work more hours and have less time to support the child;

• Decreased special attention (e.g. inability to aid a child with special learning needs or interests in sports or music);

• Loss of a sense of familial roots and shared memories.

 

Additionally, studies conducted by the CBEM found that most bereaved children struggle to find the resources that they need:

• 72% say that they didn’t know how to talk about what they were going through

• 65% agree that after their parent died, they felt like there was no one they could talk to

• 57% reported that support from family and friends waned within the first 3 months following the loss.

 

The BHTF is passionate about ensuring that these children will no longer be left behind, that they will be able to find the resources they need and utilize them to their fullest potential.

​

[1] Schuurman, D. (2003) Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent. New York: The Guilford Press

​

[2] Oltjenbruns (2002) Handbook of Bereavement Research; Christ (2002) Healing Children’s Grief, New York: Oxford University Press