High School Students over 18

[angel0309, ADN, RN]

So I'm having a question come up from a parent regarding IHPs. Their student recently turned 18, so the parent is not sure if they can sign the IHP for their student. I can't find a clear answer regarding this and I am a brand new school nurse. What do your districts say about students 18 and over. Furthermore, what about sharing health information with parents of students over the age of 18?

[salpn]

I believe it varies by state, both the rules and and the age of majority.   Your district should have the policy for this.

The rule we have for IEP and IHP and the like for adult students is that the student is invited to participate in the process.   The student is informed that they are allowed to have their parent participate, but they must give that permission.   The student is the one who has to sign the consent for changes.

Of course, this all is predicated on the student being competent to make decisions.    For a large quantity of our 504 students, they are.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

On 10/27/2021 at 9:22 AM, salpn said:

I believe it varies by state, both the rules and and the age of majority.   Your district should have the policy for this.

The rule we have for IEP and IHP and the like for adult students is that the student is invited to participate in the process.   The student is informed that they are allowed to have their parent participate, but they must give that permission.   The student is the one who has to sign the consent for changes.

Of course, this all is predicated on the student being competent to make decisions.    For a large quantity of our 504 students, they are.

This is how it works in my state as well. (And we invite all high students to attend their own IEP/504 meetings if they would like as well, even when they aren't 18). 

As for health info, student is 18. I get their permission first to talk to a parent about a health visit there. I've never had an issue, unless it is because they are talking to me about certain reproductive health issues (condoms request, STI testing help, pregnancy testing help, etc) - that is super protected in my state as those conversations don't even go into my EMR due to HIPAA (since school EMR is FERPA here, not HIPAA).