Christiana Care Health System - First State School

What is it?

Founded in 1985, First State School (FSS) is an outpatient school operated by Christiana Care Health System in cooperation with the Delaware State Department of Education administered through the Red Clay Consolidated School District. The school enables chronically ill children to get the medical treatment they need without missing a chance to learn and grow with their peers. It also reduces the traumatic and expensive care these children often receive through the hospital’s emergency department (ED) and inpatient rooms. In addition to meeting the requirements of an Individualized Education Plan based on Delaware State standards, students are empowered to take control of their own medical care. This is accomplished by providing one-on-one, age-appropriate education with students and significant family members who support them as they deal with their illness and provide education to parents and students. Students are referred to the program by parents, school nurses, guidance counselors, and physicians, and are accepted based upon medical necessity. These otherwise homebound students receive academic instruction (tailored to their cognitive ability and maturity level), medical care, and comprehensive social-and family-support programs. The program has been replicated in Denver, Colorado, and Norfolk, Virginia.

FSS uses an interdisciplinary planning process including teachers, medical staff, psychologists and counselors to determine the best ways to structure the program. Nearly all of the annual cost of educational services is provided through the Consolidated School District and the Delaware State Department of Education. This includes providing educational leadership, an educational diagnostician, teachers, the academic curriculum, and social structures necessary for successful school and classroom settings. Christiana Care provides the medical staff, psychology, counseling team and administration of the program. In 2006, the Health System provided and equipped a new facility at Wilmington Hospital for use of FSS at a cost of $1.5 million. Additionally, philanthropic support funds extracurricular activities.

Who is it for?

Chronically ill children and adolescents from 5 to 21 years of age who are living with serious medical conditions. Most students come from economically and socially challenged families.

Why do they do it?

All people have challenges; for these students their challenge is their illness and they need to not allow it to define who they are as people. They are to control their illness and not let it control them. The program seeks to normalize the effects of illness on children so that they can integrate successfully with society. FSS empowers students to take control of their own medical care. They are taught to make their own appointments as well as order prescriptions and supplies in a timely manner. Research has demonstrated that the program has reduced ED use and impatient hospitalization and has increased school attendance among participants.

Impact

More than 200 young people have attended the school since it opened.

Contact: Coleen M. O’Connor, MS, NCC, LPCMH
Program Director
Telephone: 302-428-5858
E-mail: coconnor@christianacare.org