Archive for the ‘Diabetes at School’ Category

- Please distribute broadly.  Submission Deadline is September 17, 2009!

Note:

You do NOT have to live in California to voice your opinion!  California is the first state to pass laws requiring schools to care for diabetic children under the Americans With Disabilities Act.  However, the California Board of Nurses and Teachers Association filed an appeal so the final legal decision is on hold.  California could be the first state in the Nation to set a national trend requiring schools to provide onsite care for our children with diabetes.

If you have a child with diabetes in any school – please voice your opinion now – it could someday lead to legislative changes in your own state.

September 14, 2009

Dear Diabetes Families of California,

The California Assembly Select Committee on Child & Adolescent Health will be holding its second Hearing regarding diabetes care in California schools on Thursday, October 8^th from 1-4pm at the Capitol in Sacramento, CA.  Exact location details will be released shortly.

Chairman Isadore Hall and his committee are interested to hear from diabetes families so they can work toward finding an effective legislative solution that will enable all children with diabetes to be safe in California schools.

Please tell your story of diabetes care in California schools!

Tell our lawmakers about the incredibly difficult challenges that you and your child face every day to receive appropriate care at school.  Be it struggling to get a 504 Plan… to schools refusing to train personnel to administer insulin… to being denied access to field trips because there is no one trained to provide care… to losing your job or being unable to work so your child can receive care at school, submit your story by the September 17, 2009 deadline.

Follow the instructions below.

If you agree, be sure to include a statement you support the training of unlicensed school personnel to administer insulin and all aspects of diabetes care so that all children with diabetes can be safe at school.   Also, if you’ve had success with training school personnel, share that as well.

Together, we will make all children with diabetes safe at school.

Diabetes Parents & Advocates,

Lisa Shenson lisa.shenson@gmail.com Phone: (415) 328-3452

Jim Stone stonecwd@gmail.com Phone: (209) 740-6712

To submit your written story to Chairman Hall and the Select Committee follow these instructions:

1.  Please type your 1-2 page letter addressed to:

The Honorable Assemblyman Isadore Hall

State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0052

Include your full name/address/phone. Save your letter as a WORD or PDF file.

2. Via Email: Send your letter as a WORD or PDF file attachment and type the words

“Oct 8 Hearing – My Story” in the subject line of your email. Send to Chairman Hall’s aide,

Jim Given at jimgiven@msn.com AND send a copy to diabetescareincaschools@gmail.com

-          OR –

send your typed or handwritten letter via U.S. Mail to the above address.

Get involved in the next idea that will change history.

Stop Diabetes^SM

Sounds daunting? Overwhelming? Yes. But it is also as necessary as the other great, audacious ideas of history.

You can be a part of history. Stop Diabetes^SM. One step at a time.

1. Register for Step Out online or call 1-888-DIABETES.
2. Fundraise by using the Step Out online tools to reach out to friends, family and neighbors.
3. Share this idea to Stop Diabetes^SM with others.

Consider that:

• Nearly 24 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes.
• An additional 57 million are at risk for type 2 diabetes.
• If things don’t change, 1 in 3 children will face a future with diabetes.

Register today! Together we can stop diabetes. One step at a time.

Sincerely,

American Diabetes Association Step Out Staff
Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes^®

Note from Lahle Wolfe: For those of you who may not know this – in addition to cure research and diabetes awareness, and helping individuals with diabetes – the ADA has donated millions of dollars in probono legal services to fight for the rights of diabetic children and adults.  They go to court on behalf of all people with diabetes to change bad laws that discriminate against kids in schools and grown ups in the workplace.

When it comes to the giant diabetes nonprofits, the ADA should be at the very top of your giving list.  They are making a difference in the here and now – as well as working towards a cure for the future.

Online PR News – 07-July-2009 – Carter Sinclair Org together with the teachers, will allow school staff to be trained in diabetes care appropriate for the student. Students with diabetes are able to handle their own daily care, while some may need adult assistance.

“This project will help our children finally feel medically safe at school and parents will have peace of mind knowing their kids truly are being cared for. Additionally, school workforce will
have the training, tools, and resources they need to welcome our children with diabetes into their classrooms.” From the spokesperson of the Carter Sinclair Organization.

Carter Sinclair Org is non-profit organization helps monitor health status, inform and educate people about health issues. Research for new approach and modern solutions to health problems. For more information please visit www.cartersinclair.org.

Email at info@cartersinclair.org

As a parent of two children with diabetes, I know how hard it is to let children with diabetes attend field trips and other school events where there is little or no care provided by attending adults.  But it makes me incredibly sad as a parent to see that even mature teenagers may still need our guidance and care when it comes to diabetes.

People To People Leaders Allegedly Drank Beer While Student Was Dying
Allegations made by family of deceased student Tyler Hill

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 7, 2009

Four delegation leaders on a People to People trip — in which a Minnesota teenager, Tyler Hill, with type 1 diabetes died — drank beer in their Tokyo hotel room instead of getting the 16-year-old the medical assistance he requested after he climbed Mt. Fuji.

That is one of the startling findings released today by the teen’s parents, who announced the official settlement of their civil action in the wrongful death lawsuit they filed in the wake their son’s June 29, 2007, death.

Read the Article

iPump’s board president, Jeffrey I. Ehrlich, and founder, Lahle A. Wolfe, were both actively involved with the ADA and DREDF in the following lawsuit affecting children with diabetes attending California public schools.

IMPORTANT BACK-TO-SCHOOL MESSAGE FROM DREDF AND ADA

to California Families of Children with Diabetes

- Please distribute broadly. -

Dear Diabetes Families,

PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW on the current status of the legal issues related to diabetes care in California’s K-12 schools, or go to www.dredf.org/diabetes . Given the state’s serious fiscal crisis and its effect on local school budgets, we expect that an increasing number of school districts may be more reluctant/claim inability to provide needed diabetes care. Know your legal rights. Read the legal update below so you can effectively advocate for your child.

- Lisa Shenson, Diabetes Parent & Advocate
lshenson@hotmail.com

– An Important Message from DREDF and the American Diabetes Association -

To California Families of Children with Diabetes….

UPDATE ON THE LEGAL ISSUES INVOLVING DIABETES CARE IN K-12 SCHOOLS

(Issued July 2009)

The fight continues to ensure that children with diabetes in California get the care they need while at school. Given the state’s serious fiscal crisis and its effect on local school budgets, we expect that an increasing number of school districts may be more reluctant/claim inability to provide needed diabetes care. We want to let parents, health care professionals, and advocates know the status of school diabetes litigation in California and how to secure the care that children require.

In August 2007 the California Department of Education (CDE) issued a Legal Advisory to all California K-12 public schools to remind them of their obligations to uphold the legal rights of students with diabetes, including provision of related aids and health services, based on federal and state laws. One portion of the Legal Advisory states that unlicensed school personnel are allowed to administer insulin to students when a nurse is not available. Several nursing groups sued to overturn this portion of the Legal Advisory. In November 2008 a trial court judge ruled in their favor. Left unchallenged, the court ruling would have required CDE to change the Legal Advisory to remove any references to unlicensed personnel administering insulin.  Following the court ruling, ADA and CDE filed an appeal of the court ruling, which has not yet been decided.

In April 2009, a California Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court’s ruling is “stayed” during the appeal.  While this is not a decision on the merits of the case, it does mean that the lower court’s ruling has no effect until the appeal is decided.  Therefore, the entire original Legal Advisory remains in effect, and California school districts are permitted to train unlicensed personnel to administer insulin as detailed in the Legal Advisory.

If you are a parent/caregiver of a child with diabetes, you should take several important steps now, before school begins, to ensure that the 2009-10 school year goes smoothly:

1. Obtain updated medical orders from your child’s physician for the upcoming school year. The medical orders should explicitly state the child’s care needs including but not limited to:  timeframe(s) and dosing for medication (including insulin for carb consumption and treatment of elevated glucose levels, and glucagon for treatment of low blood glucose levels), timeframe(s) to perform glucose checks and  ketone checks, etc.

2. Inform the school in writing several weeks prior to the start of school that you need to meet with the school nurse and other key school personnel before school begins to discuss the specifics of how your child’s medical orders will be implemented. Emphasize this meeting is crucial to your child’s safety.

The following resources are available online at:  www.dredf.org/diabetes

• A model Sample 504 Plan and Sample Diabetes Medical Management Plan
• “Services for Students with Diabetes in Public Schools: Questions and Answers for California Parents and Guardians”
• A copy of the CDE Legal Advisory

If, after obtaining updated medical orders and working with your school, you are still unable to secure needed diabetes care services at school or during school-sponsored activities, DREDF needs to hear from you and will also guide you on how to advocate for your child. Even if you are successful in getting your child the care he or she needs, DREDF still wants to hear from you so that we can help other parents resolve similar issues.

To contact DREDF, follow these instructions:

1. Send an email to lcummings@dredf.org

2. In the subject line write, “Problem in a CA Public School”

3. In your email include the following information:

• Your Name and Phone Number

• Child’s Date of Birth

• Child’s Method of Insulin Administration (injection, pump)

• School Name

• School District Name and City

• Medical Needs Not Being Met

• Other Needs Not Being Met (e.g. field trips, medically-related absences, etc.)

• Whether School has a Nurse Only Policy for Insulin or Glucagon

• Frequency of Difficulty to Obtain Medical Services

• Indicate if Child has a 504 Plan, IEP, or Other Arrangement (explain)

Thank you for your continued help in keeping California students with diabetes safe at school.

-  Larisa Cummings, Staff Attorney/DREDF
-  Brian Dimmick, Staff Attorney/American Diabetes Association