Today's school nurses have significant responsibilities. Despite research proving their importance, very few schools have certified school nurses, relying instead on school personnel. A wish list for school nurses might include sufficient numbers and funding, school-based health centers, and confidential records. Parents can help ensure students'…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Show Me the Way to Go Home: Democrats Pare Spending in Effort to Finish Appropriations Before the End of the Year; (2) Losing…

This training guide is intended to improve the skills of Head Start staff and families in dealing with communicable diseases. The guide addresses attitudes toward communicable diseases, how to reduce the spread of disease, and how to recognize and manage illnesses more effectively. The guide consists of six working sections. The first three are…

To promote uniformity and continuity, standards have been established for planning, implementing, and evaluating student health programs provided by grade K-12 migrant education programs throughout California. In this Spanish language edition, state-mandated health requirements, the rationale for supplemental services, methods of providing…

This guide was developed to assist families and service providers in Connecticut with nutrition services for infants and toddlers with disabilities. Individual sections provide information about the following topics: laws and regulations related to nutrition services; eligibility for the Connecticut Birth to Three System and nutrition; nutrition…

The increasing importance of assistive technologies to persons with disabilities is discussed and the activities of the Center for Special Education Technology, as well as the roles of teachers, physical and occupational therapists, speech/language clinicians, hospitals, physicians, public health agencies, and the public schools in implementing…

Offers questions for parents to ask when determining whether their child's school health program is sufficient. Issues to examine include time allotted for health education, types of school services provided to help teachers with the subject, instructional methods, outside health services, and additional staff (e.g., nurses and counselors). (SM)

Intended for parents of children with disabilities, the booklet lists types and addresses of resources available in Alaska. Resources are organized according to the following types of services: support services, medical and health services, education, respite care, day care, homemaker and home health aides, residential services, vocational…

Behavior change interventions focusing on birth preparedness for pregnant women, their husbands, and adults in the community are common components of community-oriented Safe Motherhood programs in developing countries. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of these interventions, and existing studies are flawed due to study and sample…

This directory was produced to help parents of children with special needs and professionals identify one another and form relationships to improve the health care system. The directory contains entries from families throughout the United States and Canada, and is organized alphabetically by state or province, with parents listed alphabetically…

Schools can be the optimal place for the coordination of the efforts of educators, families and mental health professionals to ensure that every child learns in a safe, healthy and supportive environment. Mental health services are an important resource that schools provide to help students benefit from education. By removing social/emotional…

This document includes a three-part set of Parent Briefs that focus on supplemental security income. The first Brief (published in March 2003)provides basic information on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the federal income support program for people who have disabilities and limited income and resources. It identifies myths about SSI…

This guide presents a five-step approach to planning, conducting, and evaluating a community-school health advisory council. The five steps are: (1) convening an advisory council (learning about community-school health advisory councils, obtaining support from the school district, identifying potential members, organizing and conducting the first…

This guide is designed to assist family organizations and advocates of children with mental, emotional, or behavior disorders in asking the right questions at the right time during the development of their state's publicly funded managed behavioral health care plans. The first section provides an overview of managed care, including information on…

In the fall of 2003, PACER Center's Parent Partnership Project for Children's Mental Health conducted a survey to better understand what parents and families need from the children's mental health system in Minnesota. The research team developed a survey questionnaire, a telephone interview, and a focus group session directed at learning what was…