A support hub
Everything we wish someone had handed us in the first week. If you can't find what you need here, ask us, we will help you find it.
Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood is the death of a child over 12 months old that remains unexplained after a full investigation and autopsy. It affects roughly 400 children a year in the United States and it is nobody's fault. Most families receive no cause of death, which is its own particular kind of grief.
Grief after sudden child loss is not linear and it is not on a schedule. These resources are written by and for bereaved parents, not for textbooks.
Grief-specialized therapists understand traumatic loss differently than general practitioners. Many offer sliding-scale fees, and we can help cover a first few sessions if cost is the barrier.
Funeral costs, missed work, and travel add up in a week when you cannot think straight. Our emergency grants exist for exactly this, and other programs may also apply.
Connecticut has excellent local grief centers offering support for parents and surviving siblings, often at no cost to families.
Sitting in a room, or a video call, with people who don't need you to explain is a different kind of medicine. Peer groups exist for parents, partners, siblings, and grandparents.
Trusted partners
These groups have decades of experience and offer their services free to bereaved families.
The leading organization for Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. Free family services, advocacy, and research funding.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)Counseling, advocacy, and support groups for families after the death of a child, at any age and from any cause.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)Peer support chapters nationwide for bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents. Connecticut chapters available.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)Guidance and video-based support for parents caring for and grieving a child.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)Free, dedicated support for families whose child died suddenly and unexpectedly after infancy.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)Mental health support for parents, including after the loss of a child.
Visit website (opens in a new tab)If you need someone right now
911
Emergency (police, fire, ambulance)
988
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
211
Connecticut 2-1-1 (health & human services)
Text HOME to 741741
Crisis Text Line
