YOUTH & FUNERALS COMPANION GUIDES
Eight quick-reference guides covering the questions families ask most often about children and funerals.
ABOUT THE COMPANION GUIDES
When someone dies, the adults caring for children are often navigating their own grief while trying to support the children in their care. Questions come quickly: How do I tell them? Should they attend the funeral? What if they want to see the body? In these moments, families need practical, trusted guidance they can use right away.
Developed through a partnership between the Funeral Service Foundation and the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), the Youth & Funerals Companion Guides were created to meet that need. Each one-page guide focuses on a single topic, making it easy for funeral professionals to place the right resource directly into a caregiver’s hands during an arrangement conference, at a visitation, or as part of aftercare. Designed to be read in just a few minutes, these guides provide practical support that families can return to whenever they need it. Together, they cover the journey from telling a child someone has died, to preparing them for a funeral or viewing, to helping children stay connected through continuing bonds in the months and years that follow.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Telling a Child Someone Has Died
How to prepare for, have, and follow up on the hardest conversation, with age-by-age language for young children, older children, and teens.
Preparing Children for Viewing the Body
How to describe what a child will see and feel. Offer options and honor their choices.
Common Questions About Children & Funerals
Honest answers to the questions caregivers ask most, from “Should children attend funerals?” to “Is it okay to express emotion in front of a child?”
Honoring Traditions and Supporting Children
Ways to include children in the cultural, spiritual, and personal traditions that bring families comfort.
Preparing Children for Funeral Attendance
How to give children a choice, explain what they might see, and include them in planning.
Continuing Bonds and Support
Simple, supportive ways to help children stay connected to the person who died in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
Youth Involvement in Funerals
Meaningful, developmentally appropriate ways children can participate in memorialization, before, during, and after the service.
Understanding Words About Death and Funerals
A child-friendly glossary that explains funeral terms in simple, honest language.
DOWNLOAD THE COMPANION GUIDES
Companion guides are available as free digital downloads, allowing you to print and share what you need, when you need it. Download the full set or individual guides.
Offer the guides to families and caregivers in the arrangement conference, or whenever questions about children and grief arise.
Share with schools, grief centers, hospices, pediatric care providers, and faith communities, or other organizations in your network.
Simply submit your information to receive the download link.
A COMPANION TO YOUTH & FUNERALS
The companion guides extend the Foundation’s Youth & Funerals resource, which helps families and caregivers understand the important role funerals and memorialization play in the lives of young people. Created with funeral service professionals and bereavement experts, Youth & Funerals, offered in English and Spanish, is available free in print (shipping costs apply) or as an ebook to share on your website.