A BC mother is furious after learning that a delegation of care dispute could keep her tube-fed son out of school potentially for the entire year.Michelle Tory has contacted countless government agencies, and has yet to be told how the issue will be resolved so 11-year-old Jaxton can return to the classroom.Her battle hinges on a policy that requires parents of disabled children to provide recipes detailing the name and amount of all ingredients. As someone who home-blends regular food instead of using commercial formula, she has been opposed to the rule.In previous years, the Ladner resident had simply received an exemption from a doctor, and sent Jax off to class, however in June she was told that no such exemptions would be granted this time around.Under the current regulations, educational assistants are delegated authority to administer the meals, and must be trained by the Nursing Support Service. The group classifies the food as medicine due to the fact that the children are disabled, and as a result, nurses are required to know exactly what is in each meal.Tory told the Western Standard that on the night of September 17, she was informed that the nurse overseeing the delegation orders to Jax's assistants would not sign off. Since the nurse cannot be overruled and forced to delegate, he is effectively "excluded from school for the long term – possibly the entire year, while we navigate other avenues and bureaucracy decides between competing rights.""What is frustrating," she added, "is that Jaxton has been on the same diet and stable since kindergarten. For 6 full years, delegation was granted and the recipe exemption was never a problem. Our doctor's orders and detailed letters explaining his care were always respected."Under the current regulations, educational assistants must be trained by the NSS to administer food, which the group considers medicine due to the fact that the children are disabled. Due to that classification, nurses are required to know exactly what is in each meal.Tory has argued against that claim, claiming that it is not in NSS's scope of practice to monitor or dictate a child's nutrition. She also noted that if there was a liability issue regarding whether something harmful was put in the food, that, too, would be outside the agency's purview, and would instead need to be reported to the Ministry of Children and Family Development..Some BC tube-fed children still out of school despite apparent policy change.Over the summer, Tory spent weeks campaigning against an expanded set of policies put in place by the NSS, namely the recipe rule. She discovered that while her advocacy had resulted in many of the policies being repealed, the recipe requirement was still in place. Tory proceeded to contact everyone involved, including BC Children's Hospital executives, Ministry of Health officials, Fraser Health leadership, her local MLA, the Ministry of Education, her school district and superintendent, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives, representatives for provincial patient quality care, and Fraser Health.She repeatedly asked the latter to name the policies and standards in question, but nothing was provided, leading her to believe that it is within that agency that things are getting stuck."I'm so mad about this that I'm just using that anger as fuel to hopefully make some change and get these kids back in school like they deserve," Tory said, explaining that multiple other families have reached out to her sharing similar stories.When asked why she doesn't just provide recipes, she explained that having to do so would defeat the purpose of home-blending, and restrict what Jax can eat via the standardization of meals.
A BC mother is furious after learning that a delegation of care dispute could keep her tube-fed son out of school potentially for the entire year.Michelle Tory has contacted countless government agencies, and has yet to be told how the issue will be resolved so 11-year-old Jaxton can return to the classroom.Her battle hinges on a policy that requires parents of disabled children to provide recipes detailing the name and amount of all ingredients. As someone who home-blends regular food instead of using commercial formula, she has been opposed to the rule.In previous years, the Ladner resident had simply received an exemption from a doctor, and sent Jax off to class, however in June she was told that no such exemptions would be granted this time around.Under the current regulations, educational assistants are delegated authority to administer the meals, and must be trained by the Nursing Support Service. The group classifies the food as medicine due to the fact that the children are disabled, and as a result, nurses are required to know exactly what is in each meal.Tory told the Western Standard that on the night of September 17, she was informed that the nurse overseeing the delegation orders to Jax's assistants would not sign off. Since the nurse cannot be overruled and forced to delegate, he is effectively "excluded from school for the long term – possibly the entire year, while we navigate other avenues and bureaucracy decides between competing rights.""What is frustrating," she added, "is that Jaxton has been on the same diet and stable since kindergarten. For 6 full years, delegation was granted and the recipe exemption was never a problem. Our doctor's orders and detailed letters explaining his care were always respected."Under the current regulations, educational assistants must be trained by the NSS to administer food, which the group considers medicine due to the fact that the children are disabled. Due to that classification, nurses are required to know exactly what is in each meal.Tory has argued against that claim, claiming that it is not in NSS's scope of practice to monitor or dictate a child's nutrition. She also noted that if there was a liability issue regarding whether something harmful was put in the food, that, too, would be outside the agency's purview, and would instead need to be reported to the Ministry of Children and Family Development..Some BC tube-fed children still out of school despite apparent policy change.Over the summer, Tory spent weeks campaigning against an expanded set of policies put in place by the NSS, namely the recipe rule. She discovered that while her advocacy had resulted in many of the policies being repealed, the recipe requirement was still in place. Tory proceeded to contact everyone involved, including BC Children's Hospital executives, Ministry of Health officials, Fraser Health leadership, her local MLA, the Ministry of Education, her school district and superintendent, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives, representatives for provincial patient quality care, and Fraser Health.She repeatedly asked the latter to name the policies and standards in question, but nothing was provided, leading her to believe that it is within that agency that things are getting stuck."I'm so mad about this that I'm just using that anger as fuel to hopefully make some change and get these kids back in school like they deserve," Tory said, explaining that multiple other families have reached out to her sharing similar stories.When asked why she doesn't just provide recipes, she explained that having to do so would defeat the purpose of home-blending, and restrict what Jax can eat via the standardization of meals.
