Guidelines

Our online forums are a peer-to-peer support network, not a clinical mental health site. If you are in an acute life-threatening crisis, needing something beyond our peer-to-peer support, please dial 911 or contact the Suicide Lifeline at:1-800-273-TALK

Posting Guidelines

A message from the Founder, Joanne Cacciatore:

I started the MISS Foundation in 1996, nearly two years after the death of my infant daughter, Cheyenne. The vision I have for this organization is to help support, embrace, and assist others along the journey of grief after the unthinkable -- a child's death.

These boards are just one function of the hundreds of incredible things the MISS Foundation and its volunteers offer the community. Take time to peruse the entire site- there is so much helpful information, articles, poetry, resources, and ancillary projects!

Most importantly, please help share our vision by being kind, gentle, and loving with one another. The experience of grief itself is a very selfish journey. Sometimes, it may seem as if no one can imagine our pain; that our pain is worse than everyone else's. One of my favorite quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr:

"We may all have come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."

Empathy, kindness, understanding, and compassion will not only enrich your life in receiving, but also in giving.

As you walk this grief path, you do not walk alone. And the person you help in turn will one day be strong enough to help another one day. That will be the legacy of your child and mine, touching lives from city to city, state to state, nation to nation, through this generation and future generations to come. They live on through our love~ children who lived, who died, and who, even in death, continue to matter.

In Support & Sympathy,

Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

CEO, MISS Foundation

Mother of four who walk, one who soars!

Some practical points to consider:

We respectfully request that you post with “empathy, kindness, understanding, and compassion.”  Each of us experiences grief in our own unique way, so please be mindful of the use of profane language and be sensitive to the needs of others when replying to their posts.

We suggest that members refrain from writing in text message format, typing in all caps, or eliminating paragraphs. Writing in this way can be difficult for your readers. For further reference, please visit Netiquette Etiquette for some persuasive and entertaining essays on the subject.

Should the topic of your post be especially sensitive, please tag the post or note the nature of the sensitivity in the "topic" area of the post.

Contentious news stories are not acceptable on the forum boards. Should you wish to share a news item, please contact Trish before posting.

Solicitation, promotional information, spam, or services for sale, are not permitted on the forum boards, in the Chat Room, or through the Private Message (PM) system without prior permission from the Administration Team.

Members are prohibited from posting copyrighted materials (written, audio, and video) without the expressed permission of the administration team and copyright owner.  

All communications shared within the MISS community are considered the property of MISS and to protect the privacy of our members may not be shared, published, or posted, outside of our forums without the permission of the author and the administration team.

The posting of any medical information, articles, or advice without the prior approval of the administration team is not permitted. Please contact Laurie-Beth if you have any questions.  You may discuss your own medical concerns within a specific topic. For example, “My experience was….” is acceptable, whereas “You should…” is not.

Non-bereaved doctors, nurses, reporters, writers or other, must request permission to access the boards. Requests may be sent to FourmAdmin@missfoundation.org

From the administration team:

We offer a warm welcome to you,and are very sorry for the death of your beloved child.

We’d like to share a little bit about our role at MISS. Each member is a bereaved parent or family member suffering the loss of a child at any gestation or age, and of any cause. Our members represent a wide variety of people and experiences, from many parts of the world, and from every point on the spectrum in the grieving process.

Ensuring your security and privacy is important to us, and we work behind the scenes to provide a safe and smooth running environment, hoping you feel at home on the forums. We personally validate every member, and we require every member to have a valid working email address. All users must provide us with their full legal name when registering, and we only allow one account per user.

Our boards are moderated by a dedicated group of bereaved parent volunteers who are ready to give back to this community. We select, interview and mentor each moderator on our team, ensuring that you have compassionate and active support. We’d like you to consider these volunteers as friends and mentors. They are here to help you during this difficult time.

Participation creates a strong community, lifelong friendships, and sharing our stories helps us heal our broken hearts. We invite you to join us, become active, and start making new friends. We ask that you be mindful of the feelings of others, especially should those feelings or opinions differ from your own.

MISS is a not for profit volunteer based organization. We thank you for your support of MISS.

The role of moderators:

The role of the moderator is to facilitate and direct supportive discussion and guide new members. Moderators reserve the right to edit or move posts. They may remove posts that are disruptive, but may allow posts that seem controversial but thoughtfully presented. Should you find a post offensive, please do not respond with anger. Report the post through the “Report” button located on each post, or contact a moderator with your concerns.  You can find a moderator by clicking on the moderating team link at the bottom of the forums page.

If you suspect a member of abusing the PM system, please contact a moderator for help. In the event of serious abuse by a member, the administration team reserves the right to suspend PM privileges of the member until the matter is resolved and/or suspend the member.

If you wish to discuss an issue or moderator action, you may send a PM to, Laurie-Beth or Trish members of the administration team. If you disagree with an action, we respectfully ask that you not post an argument on the boards.

Each post and chat transcript is recorded and backed-up daily and remains the property of MISS and the post author. Nothing is to be removed, copied or posted elsewhere, without permission from MISS or the post author.  We thank you for your empathy of others when reading and responding to posts.

Sadly, we welcome you to the MISS Foundation.