Individualized Education Program Development Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Children and Adolescents with Health...

Area of Science:

• Child Health Services
• Educational Psychology
• Health Disparities Research

Background:

• Children from Black, Hispanic, and low-income backgrounds disproportionately experience chronic health conditions.
• Federal law mandates schools provide services, via individualized education programs (IEPs), for students whose health impairs learning.
• IEPs are crucial for mitigating disparities in educational outcomes among children with health conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of IEP plans among school-aged children with health conditions.
• To analyze factors influencing IEP plan acquisition using Andersen's Behavioral Model.
• To identify racial and ethnic disparities in access to school-based health services.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2012 National Survey of Children's Health (N=16,496 school-aged children with health conditions).
• Employed multivariable logistic regression to assess predisposing, enabling, and need factors predicting IEP plan presence.
• Examined race/ethnicity interaction terms to understand moderating effects on IEP access.

Main Results:

• Hispanic children were 93.4% less likely and Black children 87.9% less likely to have an IEP compared to White children.
• Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial children showed increased likelihood of having an IEP with greater family/neighborhood resources.
• Children with more extensive health and healthcare needs were more likely to have an IEP plan.

Conclusions:

• Andersen's Behavioral Model effectively predicted IEP plan presence in racially/ethnically diverse children with health conditions.
• Significant racial disparities in IEP access were identified, indicating unequal utilization of school health services.
• Addressing these disparities is a critical step toward ensuring equitable healthcare access in schools for all children.