Catch up on all the latest news that’s happening in the school health center movement around the state of California.
California’s Newest SBHC is at Riverbank High School
It started with a passing comment, followed by a few laughs. Then the students in Step-by-Step, a Riverbank High School youth leadership group, got serious – very serious. Five years after that fateful lunchtime meeting, former and current Riverbank High School students were on hand to witness the realization of their dream: a health center right on campus.
“It started out as a dream to a group of high school youth who had no idea what they were doing but were willing to learn as they went along because of their passion,” says Manuel Castano, who helped get the ball rolling when he was a junior and stayed with the effort even after graduating. “All I know is that the work, dedication and patience has been well worth it. Riverbank will now and forever receive accessible/quality healthcare.”
During the 2006-2007 school year, Step-by-Step members surveyed students on campus to see how they felt about school and themselves. At a lunchtime meeting while reviewing the surveys, one member said, “What if we get a health center to decrease some of these problems?” and then she started laughing.
Nancy, the adult coordinator of Step-by-Step, wasn’t laughing. In fact, she was inspired. She told the students that if they wanted a school-based health center, they could do it.
Step-by-Step members got to work, first informing themselves and then reaching out to parents, school board members and the community through presentations and skits. Golden Valley Health Centers joined the effort as the health care provider and the district provided the space on campus for the portable that houses the health center.
“The partnership between Riverbank Unified School District and Golden Valley Health Centers is the result of a community movement driven by the youth at Riverbank High School. The health center, a simple yet powerful concept, was envisioned by high school students in 2007,” said Ken Geisick, RUSD Superintendent and a board member with the California School Health Centers Association. “The youth and community will now enjoy the power of a health center, but the youth and adults discovered that the long journey to a grand opening was complex and required a spirit of relentlessness.”
Golden Valley Health Centers is a private, non-profit federally qualified health center that has operated in the Central Valley for more than 38 years. Golden Valley has 25 clinical sites and eight dental sites, including three school-based centers.
The Riverbank school-based health center is open to students and surrounding community members. The high school has nearly 800 students and about 65% of them receive free or reduce priced meals. Riverbank is about 25 miles northeast of Modesto. Read the story in the Riverbank News.
Valley Public Radio Airs Piece on School Health
On this edition of Quality of Life, correspondent Shellie Branco does a feature report on school health which mentions school health centers, and talks with school nurses and one Visalia family who relies on them. Guests include Linda Davis-Alldritt, RN, a School Nurse Consultant for California Department of Education, and Kevin Hamilton, Deputy Chief of Program of Clinica Sierra Vista, which serves Kern and Fresno Counties. Together, they talk about a new state law that mandates pertusssis booster shots for students entering grades 7-12 starting July 1. Listen to story.
New L.A. Schools Leader John Deasy Calls for Student Healthcare
The incoming leader of the nation’s second-largest school district is calling for free health, vision and dental care for any students who lack it. Read more.
News Media Shine Spotlight on School Health Centers
Check out these news stories exploring how California ‘s SBHCs are starting up and expanding despite a lack of direct funding from the state. And don’t just watch, listen or read. You can contribute to the dialogue, too. Be sure to post a comment at the end of each story about the important benefits of SBHCs to students and the community.
ABC7 News
KQED’s California Report
California Watch
San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland Tribune
San Jose Mercury News
The story was originally reported by California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, and several news outlets also published it. In his story, veteran reporter Louis Freedberg visited school-based health centers (SBHCs) in Alameda County and Los Angeles , speaking to students, site coordinators, a principal and CSHC’s executive director Serena Clayton.
“What we would really like to see is that school health centers become part of how health care is delivered to kids, so when you think of schools, you think of the library, the gym, and the health care center,” Clayton said.
Kaiser Gives SBHCs in Oakland $6 million
Weeks after losing a close parcel tax election, the Oakland school district got a major boost: a $7.5 million donation from Kaiser Permanente, with about $6 million of those funds going to support school-based health centers. Read more.
California Forges Ahead Implementing Health Reform Changes
In California, where one out of every four families has no health insurance and the economy is in terrible shape, political leaders here have made implementing federal health care reform a major priority. Read more of this report from the PBS New Hour.
Salud Para La Gente to Open New Pajaro Valley High School SBHC
The Pajaro Valley High clinic will operate 20 hours a week and offer both medical and dental care. “I’m stoked,” said Murry Schekman, assistant superintendent in charge of secondary education for Pajaro Valley Unified School District . “The issue of wellness is extremely significant for the district. We feel very proactive.” Read more.
Report: State needs ‘children’s cabinet’
As California prepares for another round of severe budget cuts, a child-advocacy group is recommending the state create a “Children’s Cabinet” to coordinate the myriad services delivered by multiple state agencies. Read more.
Working Together For A Healthy Community
Our local health care system, like that of almost every other place in the country, is struggling with a dilemma. How do we provide health care that is better coordinated [from both the health care provider's and the patient's perspectives], without driving costs through the roof, while still creating a healthy community for all? Read more of this opinion/editorial by Eleanor Littman, executive director of the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County.
Congressman Sam Farr Shows Support of School Health Centers
Salud Para La Gente and Pajaro Valley Unified School District recently hosted Congressman Sam Farr in a visit to the school health center at Cesar Chavez Middle School in Watsonville. Congressman Farr has been a strong advocate for collaborations between health care providers and schools.
(Photo: Congressman Farr (center holding sign) at Cesar Chavez Middle School)
Promise Neighborhood Grantees
Congratulations to the three California organizations that were among the 21 chosen nationwide by the U.S. Department of Education to receive a Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant. All of California’s grantees include a health component that will make health services more readily available where kids are … in school!
California’s grantees are:
California State University East Bay Foundation (Hayward). Partners on this project include Alameda County Public Health Department and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center. Tennyson High, one of three schools of focus, already has a school-based health center.
Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission (Los Angeles). The project will focus on a portion of Boyle Heights. The target schools are Hollenbeck Middle School and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center.
Youth Policy Institute (Los Angeles). The planning grant will focus on the Pacoima and Hollywood neighborhoods. Three of the six schools of focus already have SBHCs.
Healthy Start Grantees – Share Your Stories
Did your school-based health center get started with a Healthy Start grant? If so, please help us and other advocates collect stories about successful Healthy Start grants. The Center for Community School Partnerships at UC Davis and the Partnership for Children and Youth are working to build a supportive state policy environment for community engaged schools. To do this, they want to educate the state Legislature about Healthy Start, the program’s impact, and how Healthy Start sites have leveraged grant funds to serve students and their families. To gather as much information as possible, they are looking for community, county, or district level information (versus site level). If you have any questions or suggestions concerning this survey, please contact Deanna Niebuhr at the Partnership for Children and Youth: deanna@partnerforchildren.org or (510) 830-4200 x1605. Please click here to take the survey.
School Health Centers Participate in H1N1 Outreach and Vaccination Project
CSHC partnered with the California Primary Care Association, the California H1N1 Vaccination Collaborative, and school health centers throughout the state to prevent a third wave of H1N1 by providing school-based outreach, education, and vaccinations. CSHC awarded 19 mini-grants to school health centers to conduct H1N1 outreach and education, totaling $12,500. During the brief project period (May-July), school health centers conducted H1N1 outreach to 37,736 students, families, staff and community members, and delivered 923 H1N1 vaccinations. Outreach was strengthened by youth leaders at six high schools who promoted the H1N1 campaign at community events, passed out fliers on campus, utilized schools’ public announcement systems, and even employed social networking websites to increase outreach to their peers. Read more on our H1N1 web page.
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