Health and Education Access Hub

Hub Co-Leads

Ria Pal, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology

Casey Krueger, PhD

Clinical Associate Professor (Affiliated), Peds/Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Staff, Peds/Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics

Mission

The Health and Education Access Hub aims to address the persistent barriers Children with Special Health Care Needs face in accessing appropriate education. Our long-term goal is to prevent any child’s education from being compromised due to health and to promote equity for children and families navigating both the healthcare and education systems.

Problem Statement

Every year, thousands of children with serious health conditions spend extended periods of time in the hospital. These children—often called Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)—make up about 15% of kids nationwide, with an even higher proportion among and low-income families. Although laws protect the educational rights of CSHCN, in practice, many families face big challenges when their child returns to school or needs to access special education services. These challenges often stem from delayed diagnoses, limited awareness of rights, resource shortages, and the complexities of individualized education planning (IEPs). Communication between hospitals and schools is often poor, resources are limited, and families—especially those who speak languages other than English—struggle to navigate a complicated system. Consequently, educational inequities arise.

Strategic approach

Our hub seeks to bring together families, school personnel, community organizations, hospital educators, and medical providers to build coordinated, comprehensive solutions that ensure CSHCN are better supported as they transition from acute medical care back into educational settings. We are collaborating with Parents Helping Parents (PHP), a respected parent training and information center based in San Jose.

The hub will:

Map barriers and opportunities to improve educational pathways for CSHCN.
Develop clear, practical recommendations to improve hospital and school coordination.
Design a pilot program to provide resource navigation to enable system change.

The hub is currently in its early phases, with stakeholder engagement and resource building planned for September 2025–February 2026, followed by data analysis, pilot programming, and council launch through 2027.