Kids Food Allergies Blog

Question for those of us with food allergic kids in public schools, or about to enter public schools: Is the passage of H.R. 2063 a reason to celebrate? According to a bill summary, H.R. 2063, The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2008, directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop a voluntary policy for managing the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools.

H.R. 2063 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and make available to local educational agencies a policy to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools to be implemented on a voluntary basis only. Directs that such policy address: (1) a parental obligation to provide the school with information regarding a student’s food allergy and risk of anaphylaxis; (2) creation of an individual health care plan tailored to each student with a documented risk for anaphylaxis; (3) communication strategies between schools and emergency medical services; (4) strategies to reduce the risk of exposure in classrooms and common areas; (5) food allergy management training of school personnel; and (6) authorization and training of school personnel to administer epinephrine when the school nurse is not immediately available.

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) considers the passage of this bill , sponsored by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), to be a “wonderful first step to ensuring that the 2.2 million school-age children with food allergy are safe at school.” They further claim that, “If passed, FAAMA will provide schools across the country with uniform guidance on how to create appropriate management and emergency plans for children with food allergies.”

While I laud these objectives, I’m skeptical that this bill will accomplish these goals.

1. The bill is voluntary. In section 5, “Nothing in this Act or the policy developed by the Secretary under section 4(a) shall be construed to require a local educational agency or school to implement such policy or guidelines.” That’s problematic. If schools don’t want to work with parents to implement food allergy action plans for emergency situations, that’s OK? And, a camp can reject your child because of his/her allergies (or refuse him or her to bring an epi-pen to camp)? I share the sentiment of the Breeding Imperfection blog that HR 2063 “is not nearly as interesting” because, frankly, this legislation will not do anything. But it would be really helpful if some legislation could be implemented that would. As she writes, “Mothers like me already do the informing and educating of the schools. Many of us start from scratch, with wholly - and dangerously - ignorant educators … With parents carrying the bulk of the burden, it would help a lot to see this process normalized a bit.”

2. State law supercedes federal legislation (see section 4.2.c). This is a variation of point 1 — but if state and local laws are more lax than the federal guidelines outlined in this legislation (or by DHHS) — then food allergic children are no better off than they were before the passage of this bill. It is precisely in those jurisdictions with policies that disadvantage food allergic students who most desperately need strong federal legislation to protect their safety and rights.

3. There is no money behind it. When this bill was first introduced (April 26, 2007), there was an appropriations authorization provision ($30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years). This provision was stricken from the version that passed the house April 8, 2008. Not that this matters that much — the power is in appropriations, not authorizations. Actually, taking the appropriations down to zero makes sense since the bill is completely voluntary. If this bill were to make a difference, it would need to be mandatory and have money behind it.

4. I’m really glad to live where I do. I haven’t yet met with my daughter’s principal, but where I live (in Fairfax County, VA), I am optimistic. There seems to be a fairly comprehensive county-wide food allergy policy, and a highly organized mechanism in place for managing food allergies. They post several allergy/anaphylaxis responsibility checklists, which I found interesting:

• Responsibilities of the Parents or Guardians of a Student with Food Allergies/Anaphylaxis
• Responsibilities of the Student with Food Allergies/Anaphylaxis
• Responsibilities of the School Administration
• Responsibilities of the School Public Health Nurse
• Responsibilities of the Classroom Teacher
• Responsibilities of the Food Services Manager
• Responsibilities of School Transportation

The bill goes to the Senate next. We’ll be watching closely.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Congress, food allergies, legislation, school. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.