As a part of our NHFA Pause to examine how we relate to the community and how we can best serve it with the goal of creating a home funeral movement that is more inclusive and more equitable, we chose to pause the NHFA Proficiency Badge as we considered whether or not it aligned with our organizational values, and if we would therefore reimagine the badge, or do away with it altogether. The NHFA has since decided to officially remove the Proficiency Badge as an offering, as it felt misaligned with our mission.
The NHFA was founded in response to the professionalization of death care and recognizing that people shouldn’t have to pay to care for, or to be with, their dead. While caring for your dead was once quite common, many of these skills are no longer familiar. We have been hard at work developing new materials that will be offered, for free, so that anyone who wants to care for their dead can easily access information on how to do so.
We acknowledge that many people find value in seeking out support people to guide them through the community deathcare process, and as such we are happy to host a directory of Home Funeral Guides and other death professionals that folks may choose to hire. They don’t need to hire anyone to assist them in caring for their dead, but if they’d like to, they can.
We recognize that the badge was born out of a desire to evaluate folks who come from many different backgrounds and training experiences on core competencies, however, the NHFA has determined that it is not an arbiter of proficiency. We exist to offer education and to provide resources and support.
While we may offer some skills based workshops for end-of-life workers and guides in the future, we give voice to the ways that you don't need a micro-credential to do this work in your community, and that if micro-credentials are important to you, you can explore them via another organization.
Those of you who’ve received an NHFA Proficiency Badge will be contacted directly for ways to access a replacement badge via the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA). Thank you again, to our NHFA community for your patience, grace, and understanding as we continue to explore the heart of who we are, and what we represent, as an organization.
