Cindy Fair, associate professor of human services, co-authored an article with two social workers that was published in a recent issue of the Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Service.
Fair, along with Dara Garner-Edwards and Mary McLees-Lane, social workers with the NC Children’s AIDS Network, wrote “Assessment of North Carolina HIV-related School policy.” The researchers conducted a content analysis of school policy related to the enrollment of HIV-infected children in 79 NC public schools, and compared their policies to standards described in professional literature.
Fair and her colleagues found that the majority of schools failed to implement policies consistent with standards established by experts in the field. Policies typically focused on fear of transmission rather than protecting the educational rights of HIV-infected children. Schools received individual feedback on their policies and were offered technical assistance to improve their policies.