Litigation

A CDC Review of School Laws and Policies Concerning Child and Adolescent Health

By Michael Kaplen

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has a significant impact on the ability of children to obtain a quality education. Unfortunately, not all children receive the education that they are entitled to because of the inability of parents to access services under Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). In other instances schools lack specific policies related to educational issues surrounding a TBI.

Education and public health leaders can use specific laws and policies to promote programs and strategies that foster an environment in which children and adolescents can thrive and learn.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health and Public Health Law Program engaged legal scholars and researchers at the Centers for Law and the Public?s Health: A Collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities to review the use of law as a tool for improving and protecting the health and safety of children, adolescents, and staff in public elementary and secondary schools.

The culmination of the project is the report ?A CDC Review of School Laws and Policies Concerning Child and Adolescent Health.? Using a Coordinated School Health Program model as a framework, the report gives educators and public health professionals new access to information on laws and policies important to the health of children and adolescents in schools. It is intended to help practitioners and policymakers in public health and education at the Federal, State, and local levels enhance their knowledge of relevant laws and policies. The full report was published in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of School Health and is available for download from the American School Health Association website by clicking here.

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on February 24, 2008 (boomark / email).