North Carolina's Care for School Children with Diabetes Act

What is the Care for School Children with Diabetes law?

The N.C. General Assembly passed Senate Bill 911, the Care for School Children with Diabetes Act, on August 29, 2002. The law is designed to help children manage their diabetes while at school, where they spend such a large percentage of their time. The law called on the State Board of Education to adopt guidelines for the development and implementation of individual diabetes care plans for the care of children with diabetes in the state's public schools. The Board's guidelines must meet or exceed those set by the American Diabetes Association, which recommend in part that:

• School personnel be trained on the treatment of diabetes emergencies, including high and low blood sugar levels;
• An individualized diabetes health care plan (Diabetes Care Plan) be developed for each child with diabetes;
• Children be allowed to snack and monitor their blood sugar anywhere on school grounds, including in the classroom and on the school bus, and be given permission to use the restroom and have access to fluids whenever needed if designated in the care plan; and
• An adult and backup adult be trained to administer glucagon (sugar) in accordance with the care plan.

Governor Easley signed the bill into law on September 5, 2002. The Board of Education adopted these guidelines at itstheir January 2003 meeting, and the yguidelines were had to be implemented in time for the start of the 2003-2004 school year.

Why create this new law?

There are over 2,500 children with diabetes in the public school system. Since children spend such a large portion of their time at school, it is important that they be able to manage their disease while at school. This law allows for more flexibility so that students are better able to take care of themselves during the school day. In addition, school personnel are trained to identify and respond to diabetes emergencies so that fast, effective treatment can be given when needed.

How has the State prepared the public schools to implement the Care for School Children with Diabetes law?

To help implement the new law, a group of expert partners worked together to create the Diabetes Awareness, Training and Action (DATA) program, funded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.

Partners include:

• The NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI)
• The NC Department of Health and Human Services, Diabetes Prevention & Control Branch (DHHS)
• The Wake Area Health Education Center (Wake AHEC)
• American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Diabetes Care Center (WFU)
• NC chapters of the American Association of Diabetes Educators

The law requires staff in schools where children with diabetes are enrolled to receive general training on diabetes. In addition, two staff members must receive intensive training on insulin administration, diabetes emergency procedures, and identifying and treating symptoms of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Parents of children with diabetes are required to fill out a care plan for their child(ren) (signed by a physician) that details treatment, snack times, and other pertinent needs.

The DATA program consists of a curriculum that was used to train Master Trainers throughout the state and resource materials for each school. Master Trainers were then charged with training school personnel. To date, over 1,300 schools have completed their training. To find out if your child's school personnel have completed their training, please contact the school.