PORTLAND, Maine — After State Police were called to a South Paris apartment on Tuesday for a report of a man and woman found dead, one of the victim’s children were taken into state custody.
In the apartment, police found an eight-year-old, and a two-month old alive.
The response on social media largely concerned the children.
Who will care for them? Do they have family in the area? Will they be okay emotionally?
The incident in South Paris is the second in less than a month when a child’s mother was found dead.
In mid-December, an 11-year-old boy in Richmond discovered the bodies of his mother, and his mother’s longtime boyfriend, both dead by what police called a murder-suicide.
The Center for Grieving Children, which has offices across the state, has resources to help children who have experienced these types of traumas.
"It's so layered and complicated that we would want to be concerned that the kids are some place safe, where people can hear their stories of grief,” said Florence Young, program director for the Center for Grieving Children. “The kids are going to be worried about who's going to take care of me."
Young has spent her career helping children cope with trauma, including working for Child Protective Services. She said trauma at a young age can severely affect a child's emotional and physical health.
Help from adults around them is critical.
"Asking open-ended questions of the child and waiting for opportunities to acknowledge their sadness and their grief, and you don't need to go into deep details -- let them come from their place of sadness or fear or trauma. All of these things are traumatic for a child,” said Young. "It's hard for adults to see kids in a lot of pain, and these kids are going to have a hard time.”
For more resources on how to help children in these tough times, visit the Center for Grieving Children website.