L.Y.G.H.T. News, July 2025

A program of Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children & Families

Issue 18, July 2025

Get Grief-Informed: Resources for Child Welfare Professionals

The majority of child welfare professionals are trauma-informed; however, most are not grief-informed. It is important for the child welfare community to be aware of grief-informed best practices and how to support youth in foster care who are grieving.

In May, during National Foster Care Month, Dougy Center launched the national Get Grief-Informed campaign with free resources created specifically for professionals in the child welfare field, including:

Interested in learning more? Visit dougy.org/GetGrief-Informed for additional resources.

Language Matters

The language we use when talking with and about youth in foster care make a big difference in how supported and valued they feel. However, finding the right words can be challenging, especially when talking about sensitive topics like loss and grief.

As part of our Get Grief-Informed campaign, we are featuring two new resources with helpful tips to guide these meaningful conversations. We hope you find them useful to supporting youth in foster care!

Pictured left: (left to right), Lindy Scott, Monique Mitchell, Donna Schuurman, Tashel Bordere, and Crystal Wortham. Pictured right: Juliette Martinez

L.Y.G.H.T. Team Shares Insights at the NACG Symposium

The L.Y.G.H.T. team presented at the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG) Annual Symposium in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Monique Mitchell, L.Y.G.H.T. National Director, and Lindy Scott, Executive Vice-President of Thornwell, served as panelists for this year’s Research & Evaluation panel on The Power of Research & Practice Partnerships. Juliette Martinez, MSW, South Carolina L.Y.G.H.T. State Coordinator, provided a poster presentation where resources were shared to support youth in foster care grieving death and non-death losses. The resources highlighted tools and best practices for practitioners, helping raise awareness about the unique grief experiences of youth in foster care. Find the resources here.

Connect with L.Y.G.H.T.

Follow L.Y.G.H.T. on Instagram: @lyghtprogram and Facebook: @lyghtprogram for updates, upcoming events, and grief resources for supporting youth in foster care.

Get Grief-Informed: Share with Others

Share what it means to be grief-informed and raise awareness of this critical issue. Download these images and share to your social media channels. Make sure to use #GetGriefInformed #UnderstandGrief and tag us @thedougycenter and @lyghtprogram

Sample Text: We're joining @thedougycenter in the movement to Get Grief-Informed in support of youth in foster care. Find out more and see what you can do at www.dougy.org/GetGrief-Informed #GetGriefInformed #UnderstandGrief.

If you are in South Carolina and would like to learn more about making a youth referral to one of our L.Y.G.H.T. community sites in the Lowcountry, Midlands, Upstate or PeeDee regions, please click here, contact SC L.Y.G.H.T. State Coordinator, Juliette Martinez, MSW, or visit our program finder.

For more about L.Y.G.H.T., send us an email or visit our website.