Child Life Specialist – Children's Grief

Skills & competencies

Demonstrated competence in crisis intervention, risk assessment, and safety planning for children and youth experiencing grief and loss.

Job Summary

The Child Life Specialist provides compassionate, developmentally appropriate clinical grief and bereavement support to children, teens, and families experiencing the serious illness or death of a loved one. The role prioritizes direct therapeutic work, helping young people understand death and dying, process anticipatory grief, cope during end‑of‑life experiences, and navigate bereavement using evidence‑informed, trauma‑informed practice.

You will deliver individualized support, facilitate therapeutic play and expressive activities, and lead group programs to promote healthy coping and resilience, while also providing professional leadership for children's grief programming across Kemp Care Network. You will play a key role in stabilizing, delivering, and strengthening KCN's children's grief services for children and youth across Hamilton, and help plan and co‑lead Camp Keaton, an annual weekend grief camp.

What this role offers

• Make a meaningful impact for grieving children and families across Hamilton.
• Lead and shape children's grief programming in a growing hospice and bereavement organization.
• Work with a small, dedicated interdisciplinary team that values trauma‑informed, family‑centred care.

Responsibilities

Direct support to children & families

• Provide clinical leadership for children's grief services across Kemp Care Network, ensuring services are trauma‑informed, developmentally appropriate, and responsive to community needs.
• Conduct person‑centred assessments and develop individualized support plans; collaborate with psychosocial team members to provide cohesive support.
• Provide clinical, 1:1 grief and psychosocial support for children and adolescents affected by the illness or death of a family member or other significant person.
• Use developmentally appropriate language, play‑based interventions, and expressive therapies (art, music, storytelling, journaling) to help children understand illness, death, and grief.
• Offer anticipatory grief support to children with a loved one receiving hospice care and collaborate with parents/guardians to strengthen family communication and coping.
• Assess and respond to crisis situations, risk indicators, and safety concerns with appropriate clinical judgment and referral.

Program development & group interventions

• Stabilize, deliver, and then strengthen the ongoing children's grief program, with opportunities for program development and enhancement.
• Facilitate grief support groups for children and teens, in‑person and/or virtual.
• Develop and maintain age‑appropriate grief resources, activities, and educational materials.
• Plan, organize, and co‑lead Camp Keaton (the organization's children's grief camp), including curriculum, staff/volunteer training and support, activity planning, and onsite facilitation.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

• Work closely with hospice nurses, social workers, music therapists, counsellors, and volunteers to ensure coordinated, family‑centred care.
• Provide educational webinars or presentations on child development, grief responses, and best practices for supporting children during end‑of‑life and bereavement.

Family & community outreach

• Serve as a resource to schools, community partners, and other agencies regarding childhood grief and bereavement.
• Engage in culturally responsive outreach so children and families from diverse backgrounds and equity‑deserving populations have equitable access to grief support.
• Support outreach efforts that expand access to bereavement services.
• Provide occasional counselling sessions in the community, a child's home, or school when necessary to facilitate access to grief support, with particular attention to barriers such as transportation and school schedules.

Documentation & administration

• Maintain timely, accurate, and confidential documentation in accordance with organizational standards and regulatory requirements.
• Track program participation, evaluate outcomes, and support program improvement initiatives; participate in quality improvement, data collection, and evaluation related to children's grief services.
• Participate in regular clinical supervision and reflective practice to support professional development and self‑care in this emotionally demanding role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Child Life or a related clinical discipline (e.g., Social Work, Psychology, Counselling) from a recognized university or college.
• Minimum 3-5 years of direct, clinical practice providing grief and bereavement support to children and youth (individual and/or group).
• Experience working with children and families experiencing illness, grief, bereavement, or trauma
• Hospice, palliative care, and/or other healthcare experience is an asset
• Strong skills in play‑based interventions, child development, and supporting grief across developmental stages.
• Compassionate, emotionally resilient, excellent communicator, with demonstrated ability to build rapport and trust with children and a history of strong family engagement skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team
• High degree of professional autonomy and initiative.
• Ability to assess and support volunteers involved in children and family programming.
• Must have, or be willing to secure, a Vulnerable Sector Check.

Ideal competencies/experience

• Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) designation or eligibility is strongly preferred.
• Applicants with an MSW/RSW, psychology, or other graduate‑level clinical background who have significant experience in children's grief and bereavement are also encouraged to apply (or an equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Ability to establish rapport and therapeutic alliance with grieving children and youth.
• Demonstrated clinical competence in trauma‑informed, child‑ and family‑centred grief and bereavement care.
• Demonstrated cultural competency and experience working with diverse populations, including equity‑deserving communities, with a commitment to reducing barriers to access (e.g., transportation, school schedules).
• Self‑starter with strong initiative, able to identify needs, adapt supports (including outreach to schools or community settings), and respond within established clinical and organizational guidelines.
• Strong organizational, time management, and program coordination skills.

Certifications

• Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) credential (or eligibility in progress) and/or other advanced training in children's grief, bereavement, and trauma‑informed practice are strong assets.
• If you do not have specific certifications but have palliative care, grief and bereavement, child life, trauma‑informed practice, or related specialty training, please describe this in your application.

Working conditions

• Full‑time position, mostly daytime and on‑site

About Kemp Care Network

Kemp Care Network is a non‑denominational provider of hospice, grief, and bereavement services. We strive to be a leader in hospice care and grief and bereavement support for our city and region. This Child Life Specialist role is foundational to the provision of community‑based services to grieving children and teens across Hamilton and will play a professional leadership role in shaping children's grief programming as KCN's services for children continue to grow.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $70,000.00-$85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Dental care
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Extended health care
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• Vision care
• Work from home

Application question(s):

• How many years of direct, clinical experience do you have providing grief and bereavement support to children and/or youth (individual and/or group)?

• What best describes your education and professional background?"

• Bachelor's in a related clinical discipline (e.g., Child Life, Social Work, Psychology, Counselling)

• Master's in a related clinical discipline (e.g., Child Life, Social Work, Psychology, Counselling)
• Child Life (CCLS or CCLS‑eligible)
• MSW/RSW with children's grief/bereavement experience
• Psychologist / other graduate‑level clinician with children's grief/bereavement experience
• Child and Youth Worker and no graduate‑level clinical training

• Other (please specify)

• Do you have training and experience in trauma‑informed practice and crisis/risk assessment with children or youth?

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Hamilton, ON L9B 1B1