Scott County Schools Launching Pilot to Support Children Experiencing Bereavement
Kentucky Center for Grieving Children & Families will lead efforts thanks to large grant from Kentucky Association of Health Plans
Georgetown, Ky. (Jan. 11, 2023) – Today, Scott County Schools announced a new pilot program to tackle one of Kentucky’s most significant but least understood and least addressed public health issues for children and adolescents: bereavement. State data modeling shows that one in nine Kentucky children will lose a parent or sibling by the age of 18, with 25% of parental bereavements caused by overdose. This represents more than 40,000 Kentucky children, enough to fill Rupp Arena nearly twice over. Scott County Schools is now teaming up with Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families (KCGCF) for a unique initiative thanks to a generous grant from Kentucky Association of Health Plans (KAHP), which will enable students to access school-based grief support services.
“We appreciate the generosity of KAHP,” said Leila Salisbury, founder and executive director of the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families. “This grant helps create a service model for school districts around Kentucky.”
The two-year grant will provide close to $90,000 over two years to launch the pilot.
“Studies have connected childhood bereavement to poorer physical health outcomes (including early death), increased incidence of depression, mental health issues, and far higher levels of substance use and juvenile justice involvement,” said Tom Stephens, president and CEO of Kentucky Association of Health Plans. “By providing these school-based services, the goal is to decrease the feelings of isolation in students with death losses and to provide coping skills that can help students manage the emotional distress caused by these losses.”
KCGCF will plan to offer 16 school-based, 11-week facilitated grief support groups for students per calendar year within the district. Groups will be offered to elementary, middle, and high schools within the district. The KCGCF will also offer teachers and student support staff trainings on best practices for grief support in the classroom and the greater school setting at each school site hosting a group, as well as district-wide trainings for any educator or student support professional in the district (regardless of if their individual school is hosting a grief group).
“Scott County Schools is thankful for community partners like the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children & Families who help us meet student needs,” said Billy Parker, Superintendent of Scott County Schools. “This initiative is a great opportunity to support the mental health and well-being of our students, a goal that is very important to our district, schools, and community.”
KCGCF expects the program to begin later this month.
About Kentucky Association of Health Plans
Kentucky Association of Health Plans is the trade organization representing the Kentucky health insurance community. KAHP is a leader on issues that strengthen the accessibility, value, and quality of health care in the Commonwealth. Members include Aetna, Anthem, CareSource, Humana, Passport Health Plan by Molina Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group and WellCare. For more information visit: www.kahp.org or follow @kyhealthplans on Twitter.
About Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families, Inc.
KCGCF is a registered 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit organization (Candid Platinum Certified for 2023). The mission of the KCGCF is to support children, teens, and their caregivers as they grieve and grow. We believe that grief is a natural response to loss. We create safe and healing spaces where children and teens with death loss can connect and discover their own paths towards healing. We also engage in trainings and advocacy work to improve the experiences and outcomes of bereaved children across Kentucky.