In 2008, Suncoast Kids Place opened their doors to 20 grieving youth. 16 years later, SKP has supported over 6,000 children and their caregivers in the Tampa Bay community and beyond. We are in SKP?s biggest expansion in our history with the addition of the School Initiative and you can play a role in that.

SKP has been approved by Hillsborough County Public Schools to provide grief support to their students and school staff.

According to 2024 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) results, 1 in 11 children in Florida will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. There are 224,538 students in Hillsborough County Schools. Using this model, there are 20,412 grieving students. This does not include students that may be grieving other significant deaths.

In the 2023-2024 school year, Suncoast Kids Place School Initiative was able to provide resources and education to many schools in the county. We have also provided 26 ten-week support groups in 19 different schools (10 groups in the fall semester and 16 in the spring). Of those schools, 16 are considered Title I.

• Buchanan Middle
• Cannella Elementary
• Egypt Lake Elementary
• Essrig Elementary
• Freedom High
• Greco Middle
• Lake Magdalene Elementary
• Learning Gate Elementary
• Leto High
• Liberty Middle
• Lowry Elementary
• Memorial Middle
• Oak Grove Elementary
• Pierce Middle
• Potter Elementary
• Robles Elementary
• Shaw Elementary
• Smith Middle
• Webb Middle

There are currently 26 schools requesting these support groups for the start of the upcoming school year.

Feedback from Schools:

"Our students LOVE the grief & loss group. They've all become more open and sharing with all emotions, not just grief, and we have had students recommending the group to friends that have had a special person die. I've noticed an increase in compassion and patience in all the students that have participated."

"Students in our group really started to open up about their grief and loss. I had been working with some of these students for a while and I learned so much more about their stories throughout the group. This gave me some insight on ways to better provide support for their families. The students look forward to group and have shared how much they enjoy it."

"The students really connected with each other and with us adults. It was beautiful to hear how one student shared that another student in the group supported her when she needed someone in class who understood what she was feeling."