A new school year brings new routines, new relationships, and many health-related tasks for families. Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE) is reintroducing our Back-to-School Health Checklists to help families, youth, and young adults prepare for the year ahead.

The AJE Community Care Back-to-School health checklists provide practical guidance beginning with Early Intervention and the first Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and continuing through elementary, middle, and high school. They also include postsecondary transition planning for young adults ages 18–26, including adult students ages 23–26 who may be navigating adult health care, college or workplace accommodations, vocational rehabilitation, health insurance, transportation, independent living, and self-advocacy.

Why Health Information Matters During the Back-to-School Season

The beginning of the school year sets the pace and determines the trajectory for the rest of the term. It is an important time to update school health forms, immunization records, medication authorizations, emergency contacts, allergy or seizure plans, upcoming appointments, transportation arrangements, and communication among families, educators, school nurses, and health care providers. The AJE Community Care Back-to-School health checklists also encourage families to review IEP or 504 supports, accessible technology, behavioral health resources, and language or interpretation needs.

Accessible and actionable information helps families move from simply receiving information to being able to find, understand, and use it when making decisions. Learn more through Healthy People 2030’s health literacy resources and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on school-health services and managing health conditions at schools.

Community Care is Disability Justice in Practice

During the back-to-school period, AJE will circulate the health checklists and related health information digitally and, as opportunities permit, in libraries, hospitals, schools, and other community spaces through our Community Care Kits and Mutual Aid Distribution efforts.

Mutual aid is more than one-way charity. It brings people together to share information, resources, skills, and care while building relationships and responding to the conditions creating hardship. AJE understands mutual aid as a practical expression of disability justice. Although mutual aid is not named as a separate principle in the disability justice framework, it helps put the principles of interdependence, collective access, cross-disability solidarity, and collective liberation into action. Read more through Dean Spade’s introduction to mutual aid and solidarity and Sins Invalid’s accessible presentation of the 10 Principles of Disability Justice.

Download the AJE Community Care Back-to-School Health Checklists

AJE Back to School Health Checklists – By Age (English)

AJE Back to School Health Checklists – by Age (Spanish)

These developmentally organized back-to-school health checklists in English and Spanish are designed as guides to support families from birth to age three through postsecondary transition at ages 18–26. Each section identifies timely health, education, wellness, and advocacy steps, such as coordinating Early Intervention services, preparing for a first IEP, updating health plans, developing self-advocacy skills, transitioning to adult providers, and confirming ADA or 504 accommodations for college and employment.

AJE Back to School Health Checklists – by Disability (English)

AJE Back to School Health Checklists – by Disability (Spanish)

These back-to-school health checklists in English and Spanish begin with health-planning considerations relevant to all students and then offers focused prompts based on IDEA disability categories. It addresses autism, deaf-blindness, deafness and hearing impairment, developmental delay, emotional disability, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, learning disabilities, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment or blindness. It also includes guidance on sensory and communication supports, nursing and emergency plans, assistive technology, mobility, behavioral health referral pathways, crisis planning, and family-school-provider coordination.

Language Access is Foundational to Health Justice

DC Families should not have to navigate critical health and education information in a language they do not fully understand. AJE is honored to be a part of the the DC Language Access Coalition, whose mission is to fight for the rights of Limited-English Proficient (LEP) and Non-English Proficient (NEP) residents, workers, and visitors to access DC government services — in their language — as guaranteed by the DC Language Access Act of 2004.

AJE’s Spanish-language back-to-school health checklists are one concrete step toward meeting this need while recognizing the importance of interpretation, ASL, AAC, plain language, and the many other ways people communicate.

Schools, hospitals, libraries, family-serving organizations, and other community partners hosting a Back-to-School Night or community event before October are invited to connect with AJE about including Community Care resources, staff, or Parent Ambassadors. Email advocacy@aje-dc.org.