{"id":2831,"date":"2017-12-07T10:30:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T14:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=2831"},"modified":"2019-01-21T11:28:50","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:28:50","slug":"idea-and-kids-with-special-dietary-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/idea-and-kids-with-special-dietary-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"IDEA and Kids with Special Dietary Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"IDEA%20and%20Kids%20with%20Special%20Dietary%20Needs\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 0px; float: right;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/images\/bs\/girl.sandwich.jpg\" alt=\"girl eats lunch at school\" width=\"180\" height=\"270\" \/>Our doctor has recommended that my daughter, on an IEP, be gluten and dairy free.\u00a0 The school is giving me a hard time, though I know they are providing a special lunch for at least one other student.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You&#8217;ll need to do some research (and so did we).<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture&#8217;s (USDA) nondiscrimination regulation (7 CFR 15b), as well as the regulations governing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/nslp\/national-school-lunch-program-nslp\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">National School Lunch Program<\/span><\/span><\/a> and School Breakfast Program, make it clear that substitutions to the regular school meal must be made for a child who is unable to eat school meals because of her disability.<\/p>\n<p>USDA\u2019s 2016 Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) regulation (SP 59-2016) requires school food authorities to make reasonable modifications to accommodate a child with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>These regulations require substitutions or modifications in school meals for a child whose disability restricts her diet.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>UPDATE: NEW GUIDANCE 2017.<\/strong><\/span> USDA has a new 2017 Guidance Manual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/2017-edition-accommodating-children-disabilities-school-meal-programs\">\u201c<span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Accommodating Children with Disabilities in the School Meal Programs<\/span>\u201d.<\/a>\u00a0 It explains the school food service role in providing meals to students with special dietary needs. The Guidance Manual can be found at <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/nslp\/guidance-and-resources\">https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/nslp\/guidance-and-resources<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fns-prod.azureedge.net\/sites\/default\/files\/cn\/SP40-2017a1.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Download the 2017 Edition of Accommodating Children with Disabilities in the School Meal Programs<\/span><\/a>. This guide provides guidance on the requirement for school food authorities to ensure equal access to Program benefits for children with disabilities, which includes providing special meals to children with a disability that restricts their diet.<\/p>\n<p>The guide includes nine major sections: Introduction; Statutory and Regulatory Requirements; Making a Meal Modification; Reimbursement for Modified Meals; Meal Modifications and Substitutions; Meal Service Accommodations; Procedural Safeguards and Training; Non-Disability Situations; and Appendices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nutrition Services under an IEP<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>IDEA requirements may impact the service of meals. Any nutrition-related services included in a child\u2019s IEP deemed necessary for the child to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) must be provided at public expense and at no cost to the child\u2019s family. Part B of IDEA funds may be used for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Schools are reminded that they may have additional obligations to children with disabilities under the IDEA, beyond the scope of FNS guidance.<\/p>\n<p>The guidance addresses IDEA 2004 and the ADA and makes it clear that if a student has a documented disability that restricts her diet, the school food service department must make the substitutions in lunches and afterschool snacks for the student.<\/p>\n<p>If a meal modification for a child\u2019s disability can be made within the Program meal pattern, a medical statement is not necessary. See the Meal Modifications section of the <a href=\"https:\/\/fns-prod.azureedge.net\/sites\/default\/files\/cn\/SP40-2017a1.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Guidance<\/span><\/a> on page 13.<\/p>\n<p>If a medical statement is required, it must include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>an explanation of how the disability restricts the child&#8217;s diet<\/li>\n<li>an explanation of what must be done to accommodate the child\u2019s disability<\/li>\n<li>the food or foods to be omitted from the child&#8217;s diet, and the recommended alternatives for a modified meal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If this information is already in your child\u2019s IEP or 504 Plan, you may not need a separate medical statement. Use a team approach. Clear communication about the requirements for the medical statement can help reduce the burden for families, school service professionals, and other school personnel.<\/p>\n<p>If your child&#8217;s IEP includes a nutrition component, the school is required to offer special meals, at no additional cost, if your child&#8217;s disability restricts her diet. When nutrition services are required under a child&#8217;s IEP, school officials need to make sure that school food service staff is involved early on in decisions regarding special meals.\u00a0 It would be wise to include food service staff on the IEP Team.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Allergies and Anaphylaxis<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nutrition Services in Cases of Food Allergies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When accommodating a child\u2019s food allergy, no food item offered to the child may contain traces of substances that may trigger an allergic reaction.<\/p>\n<p>See more guidance about managing food allergies in schools in <a href=\"https:\/\/fns-prod.azureedge.net\/sites\/default\/files\/ofs\/foodallergybook_english.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">The Food Allergy Book<\/span><\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/fns-prod.azureedge.net\/sites\/default\/files\/ofs\/foodallergybook_english.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/fns-prod.azureedge.net\/sites\/default\/files\/ofs\/foodallergybook_english.pdf<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to the ADA, physical or mental impairments do not need to be life threatening to constitute a disability. For example, a food allergy does not need to cause anaphylaxis in order to be considered a disability.<\/p>\n<p>A non-life threatening allergy may be considered a disability and require a meal modification, if it impacts major bodily functions or other major life activities.<\/p>\n<p>If your child has &#8220;life threatening&#8221; food allergies that are part of his disability you should read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/when-a-school-refuses-to-protect-a-child-with-life-threatening-allergies\/\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">When a School Refuses to Protect a Child with Life Threatening Allergies<\/span><\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/when-a-school-refuses-to-protect-a-child-with-life-threatening-allergies\/\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/when-a-school-refuses-to-protect-a-child-with-life-threatening-allergies\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0Food Allergy Management<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Your school should have an appropriate Food Allergy Management and Prevention Plan in place to promote the health and well-being of children with food allergies. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>School plans should establish priorities for reducing the risk of exposure to food allergens and establish practices for responding to food allergies.<\/p>\n<p>For information, articles, caselaw, legal reference files, resources, and free publications relating to allergy, anaphylaxis go to<span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/allergy.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"> Allergies and Anaphylaxis<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Special Dietary Needs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A child\u2019s impairment also may be considered a disability even if medication or other mitigating measures reduce the impact of the impairment. If a disability is episodic (or temporary), the child must be provided a reasonable modification.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Center for Disease Control (CDC) Guidance and Resources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/foodallergies\/index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Managing Food Allergies in Schools<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/foodallergies\/index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/foodallergies\/index.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Managing Food Allergies in School Toolkit<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/foodallergies\/toolkit.htm\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyschools\/foodallergies\/toolkit.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>USDA Guidance and Resources<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/nslp\/guidance-and-resources\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">http:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/school-meals\/guidance-and-resources<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>2016 USDA Policy Memorandum on Modifications to Accommodate Disabilities in the School Meal Programs SP 59-2016<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/policy-memorandum-modifications-accommodate-disabilities-school-meal-programs\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/policy-memorandum-modifications-accommodate-disabilities-school-meal-programs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2017 Guidance Manual SP 40-2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/2017-edition-accommodating-children-disabilities-school-meal-programs\">\u201c<span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Accommodating Children with Disabilities in the School Meal Programs\u201d.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/2017-edition-accommodating-children-disabilities-school-meal-programs\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/2017-edition-accommodating-children-disabilities-school-meal-programs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2017 USDA Guidance and Questions and Answers (Q &amp; As): Accommodating Disabilities in the School Meal Programs. The Q&amp;As discuss relatively common situations which have raised questions in the past and provide direction for SFAs working to ensure children with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in the School Meal Programs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/school-meals\/accommodating-disabilities-school-meal-programs-guidance-and-qas\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/school-meals\/accommodating-disabilities-school-meal-programs-guidance-and-qas<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Procedural Safeguards and Training<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>LEAs must have a procedure in place to ensure parents know how to request a modification for their child and understand their right to examine the record and file a grievance when a requested modification is not granted.<\/p>\n<p>See the Procedural Safeguards requirements overview in <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/policy-memorandum-modifications-accommodate-disabilities-school-meal-programs\">Sp 59-2016<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>State Regulations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Be sure to check your state regulations as well as your local district policy regarding\u00a0 school nutrition programs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More about Food Allergies and Written Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/food-allergies-section-504-written-plans-allergy-alerts\/\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Food Allergies: Section 504, Written Plans, Allergy Alerts<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodallergy.org\/education-awareness\/advocacy-resources\/section-504-and-written-management-plans\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">FARE: Section 504 and Written Management Plans<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our doctor has recommended that my daughter, on an IEP, be gluten and dairy free.\u00a0 The school is giving me a hard time, though I know they are providing a <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/idea-and-kids-with-special-dietary-needs\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,1365,5],"tags":[125,576,577],"class_list":["post-2831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fape","category-medical-health-care","category-idea-2004","tag-food-allergies","tag-special-dietary-needs","tag-usda-school-food-service"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2831"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23802,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2831\/revisions\/23802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}