Ellie Goldberg for Healthy Kids

Truancy and Asthma In Philadelphia, Court Judge Sunny Richman reported that asthma is overwhelmingly the number one medical reason cited for truancy in her court, one of eight truancy courts held one week per month across the city. During one of Richman's recent sessions almost all the truancy cases that day were due to asthma - and students aren't sent to court unless they have missed 25 days or more of school... (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, March 8, 2004)

Children are sick not truant...   A March, 2000 ABT Associates study on Learnfare, a program that imposed financial sanctions on parents of truant kids, reported that "illnesses, not behavior problems, accounted for the overwhelming majority (four-fifths) of welfare children's additional absences."

In Turnabout, Children Take Caregiver Role Across the country, children are providing care for sick parents or grandparents lifting frail bodies off beds or toilets, managing medication, washing, feeding, dressing, talking with doctors. Schools, social service agencies and health providers are often unaware of those responsibilities because families members may be too embarrassed, or stoic...Some children develop maturity and self-esteem. But others grow anxious, depressed or angry, sacrifice social and extracurricular activities and miss  or quit  school...Or dropping out, like Maryangellis Rodriguez, of Boynton Beach, who quit school at 16 to care for her mother, who has multiple sclerosis. "I just did it cause that's my mom," she said. (NYTIMES, Pam Belluck, February 22, 2009)  

Workplace Dilemma: Disclose Child's Special Needs Or Not? To tell the boss or not? That's a dilemma faced daily by parents of children with special needs who question whether or not telling their employer about their caregiving responsibilities is a good idea. Many parents fear discrimination and maybe for good reason. Nearly a third of parents whose children have emotional or behavioral issues report being fired because of work interruptions stemming from their children's issues. And, parents of children with special needs are likely to be poorer. That, even though it's estimated that more than 8 percent of employees are responsible for children with special needs, reports Maggie Jackson, Boston Globe 12/12/08. To read more click here.