More than 300 SBHC advocates and youth recently joined the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) in Washington D.C. to advance federal SBHC policies in health care and education reform.

Advocacy Day on June 17 included a rally and legislative visits, and preceded NASBHC's annual convention that also marked the 15 th anniversary of the organization.

Advocacy Day kicked-off with a morning rally that drew Congressional champions – Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) and Reps. Lois Capps (CA), John Dingell (MI), Chris Murphy (CT), and John Sarbanes (MD) – who fired up the crowd for a great day of legislative visits on Capitol Hill. Participants spent the remainder of the day visiting their state's members of Congress. CSHC staff members and youth board members visited 20 California legislators, and other advocates from around the country made an additional 105 visits.

“It's so great to see everybody, no matter what age, no matter what label you give yourself, we're all here united to show important it is to have school-based health care – everywhere!,” Nzugu Kitenge, CSHC Youth Board member, told the excited crowd.

Capps, who represents Ventura County, is a former school nurse who has long championed efforts to support healthy children and successful students. She thanked the people at the rally for their advocacy work. “If I didn't have this grassroots support, we would have never gotten this (SBHC authorization) bill introduced into Congress,” Capps said as the crowd cheered.

Dingell, the longest serving member in the House of Representatives, thanked school nurses for their work with students as well as their commitment to advocating for healthy children. “School-based health centers have been a remarkable part of our nation's health care safety net for the kids,” Dingle said, adding that SBHCs provide preventative care and help reduce emergency room visits and other emergency medical costs.

After the rally, CSHC staffers and CSHC Youth Board members fanned out across Capitol Hill to visit 20 California legislators, seeking support for the $50 million SBHC appropriations in the health care reform bill; support for the Full Service Community Schools Act (H.R. 3535/S.1655); and to begin discussions for SBHCs to be included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

“It's always energizing to have youth at legislative meetings because they tell authentic stories that all the data in the world can never express. I think the members of Congress and their staffers were certainly moved by the youths' personal stories of how their school-based health center supported them and helped keep them engaged in school,” Clayton said.

See photos from the rally.

Watch videos from Advocacy Day. (California's Rep. Lois Capps is on video Part II, 7:40)