Christiana Care Health System

First State School

Mission Statement

At the First State School, day to day intensive individually planned services, educational services, medical and total case management are provided in a setting where children and adolescents can grow socially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

Criteria for Admission to the First State School

• Chronic illness or acute prolonged illness which requires frequent medical treatments including skilled nursing assessment, physical therapy, occupational therapy, daily treatments, speech therapy, etc. which preclude regular school attendance.
• An ability to learn in, work independently and benefit from a school environment.
• Exclusions would be:  Students who are violent, students who have an easily communicable disease which is not treatable and poses a threat to other students.

Goals for the Program:

•  To stabilize illness and/or help student and family to become competent in self and supervised care.
•  To decrease or eliminate need for daily home care and decrease need for intermittent hospitalization.
•  To improve students general self esteem and well being.  These are factors which enhance compliance and feeling of control.
•  To develop individual treatment goals which enhance the student’s emotional, social, educational, and spiritual well being and functioning.
•  To have student keep academically on same level as peers and perform well in school at First State School and on return to home school.
• To guide students toward challenging careers they can perform with physical limitations recognizing that children and adolescents with chronic illness need to have realistic future goals.  “To be the best I can be” (school motto).
• To develop a strong transition program for academic and community services that are individually planned with active buy in by the student and family.

Criteria for Program Termination: 

• Disease process is stabilized to point that the student no longer needs daily monitoring or frequent treatment and is not at high risk for exacerbation and hospitalization. 
• Student is colonized with an untreatable infection that is easily transmissible to other students.
• Student and/or family are noncompliant with treatment goals which were made with them.
• Student has been threatening or violent with other students.