Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said the administration “has made a number of investments and launched several initiatives covering a wide range of mental health priorities, including support for children who have lost their parents “.
She cited the opinion of the surgeon general and the expansion of several existing programs. In May, for example, the ministry announced it was releasing $ 14.2 million, allocated by Congress under the American Rescue Plan, to expand access to pediatric mental health care. The rescue plan also provided funds for suicide prevention programs and a program to improve care and access to services for “traumatized children”.
John Bridgeland, founder and CEO of the collaboration, said expanding existing programs wasn’t enough. “We need a focused effort to help the unbearable loss of these 167,000 children,” he said.
The loss of a parent or guardian is difficult for a child in ordinary times. But grief counseling experts and school officials say the pandemic has taken its toll.
“The death of a parent is something we deal with all the time – not just with Covid,” said Susan Gezon Morgan, a school nurse in Emmett, Idaho, a small town outside of Boise. “But I think the fact that Covid is in the news and so suddenly, and often it’s a young parent, it seems so much more traumatic.”
In a small community like Emmett, where everyone knows each other, Ms Morgan said, grief goes both ways. Grieving children lose their privacy, but they also have a tight-knit community to support them. In big cities, it’s a different story.
Mr Jackson, of Reisterstown, Md. Just outside Baltimore, teaches his daughter, Akeerah, in part because he fears her peers are callous, encouraging her to “just get over” his loss .
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