LM May 2025

• Guidance on increasing collaboration with local pediatric providers to ensure comprehensive, integrated care is available to students. Recognizing the rich diversity of Illinois’ student population, the toolkit also includes culturally responsive resources to support students from all backgrounds such as: • Resources for new arrivals, including ICAAP’s Global Vaccine Comparison Chart to assist with interpreting vaccination records from international students. • Guidance for working with McKinney-Vento eligible students. • Information on the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, which provides free vaccines to children who are Medic aid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured, or identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. Now more than ever, this is a critical task for everyone in all child health and well-being sectors. ICAAP is dedicated to continuing to bring together partners across sectors to create tools vital in aiding the hard work that membership and

partners do across the state. The work does not end here, as vaccine-preventable illnesses spread across the U.S., ICAAP is updating this Toolkit to include a section on preparing and responding to disease outbreaks. It is important that districts and schools are equipped with information on how to deal with suspected or confirmed cases of infectious diseases, ensure the safety of students and staff, and educate families on vaccine requirements and school exclusion policies. The best time to share school vaccine information is before the next school year starts. Use this toolkit to create a com munication plan, share vaccine-confident messages, promote compliance with state requirements, and educate families. This and additional resources are available on the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP) website here. Together, we can make a lasting impact on the health and future of Illinois children.

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LM May 2025