Helping children cope with grief.

Services

The Safe Crossings Program is operated and managed by Providence Hospice of Seattle. All Services offered by The Safe Crossings Program are provided at no charge.

The Safe Crossings Program services are provided to children and families dealing with the terminal illness and death of a loved one. The goal of services is to promote a healthy grief process. The program is staffed by three social workers, both with significant experience working with children and families facing a range of difficult life issues. Services are provided through a variety of mechanisms, including:

• one-on-one counseling with children, families, and parents;
• child and teen grief support groups;
• telephone support to parents, other concerned adults, teachers, and counselors regarding children's grief;
• provision of written information and referral to a variety of community resources;
• one-on-one and group consultation to parents, educators, counselors, and other health care professionals; and
• general education to a variety of audiences regarding children's grief.
• a summer weekend sleep-away grief support camp for kids ages 5-17, "Camp Erin"

Over the last few years, The Safe Crossings Program has experienced remarkable growth and changes. Some examples include:

• Services to schools. The Safe Crossings Program has responded to the needs of schools in one-time sudden, traumatic events (e.g., at a local school, the murder of a schoolmate by her father who was also a coach at the school required extensive work with the students, parents, and teachers) as well as on-going support groups (e.g., teen grief support groups in public schools).
• Services to Hospice families. Within the hospice population, there has been an increase in the number of children served who are essentially "parent-less" when the patient dies. In some situations, this is due to an absent parent. However, in many cases, substance abuse or the mental illness of the surviving parent is a contributing factor. These situations typically require more intensive follow-up by Safe Crossings during the bereavement period.
• Movement workshops. Safe Crossings Program counselors have recognized the need to devote more time and attention to the "physical" experience of grief for children. Consequently, Safe Crossings has developed a weeklong workshop on movement and grief as a summer offering. A local school has donated space for the workshop, which was held in August of 2002.

For more information about Safe Crossings Program please call 206/320-4000 or visit their site: Safe Crossings Program.