Or, you can call your Senators' offices and ask the health legislative assistant to get the Senator to support S. 1034 by signing on to the bill. To find the contact information for your Senators, go to the Congress Merge or U.S. Senate websites. The health legislative assistant can contact Oliver Kim in Senator Stabenow's office if they have any questions or want to cosponsor. Oliver can be reached at Oliver_Kim@Stabenow.senate.gov or 202-224-4822.

After you call, please e-mail Divya Mohan Little at NABHC so we can track the field's efforts. This is of vital importance!

S. 1034 Supporters
S. 1034 was introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), along with Senators Michael Bennett (D-CO), Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Kerry (D-MA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

California currently has 153 school-based health centers (SBHCs) which does not come close to meeting the need for accessible health care services for children. In 2006, recognizing the potential of SBHCs to meet this need, Governor Schwarzenegger released a white paper calling for expansion of SBHCs to 500 schools. This year we have several opportunities to move forward on this goal.

1. Federal Stimulus - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

California will be receiving approximately $10 billion in federal stimulus funds, some of which is designated for “infrastructure investment.” We are seeking funds for the expansion of school health centers as a way of strengthening both health care and educational infrastructure in disadvantaged communities that have been hardest hit by the recession. Provisions within ARRA that provide opportunities for school health centers are outlined in "Stimulus Opportunities for SBHCs."

We have also compiled information about funds that schools and community agencies can seek at the local level to start or expand school health centers. These include Title I, Community Clinic Funding, Workforce Investment Act, Rural Community Facilities, and Education Innovation Grants. Click here to learn more about how you can advocate/apply for funds locally.

2. School Construction Funds

We are pursuing two avenues to increase the funds available for construction of health and wellness facilities in schools. AB 346 (Torlakson) expands the types of projects eligible for state joint-use bond funds to include, among other things, school health facilities. This expands opportunities for joint-use, which currently does not include health centers. Secondly, the legislature will be voting on a bill to put a school construction bond on the ballot in 2010 or 2011. We will be exploring opportunities to include language or a set-aside to give districts the option of using these funds for health or wellness centers.

3. Primary Care Clinic Licensing Reform

The California Primary Care Association is spearheading efforts to streamline the clinic licensing process by allowing community clinics to operate multiple sites (not limited to intermittent sites) under a single, consolidated license. Because many community clinics run SBHCs, CSHC is supporting these efforts to facilitate the opening of new school-based sites.

Goal 2: Sustainable Funding Mechanism for School-Based Health Centers

While expansion is critical to realizing the potential of SBHCs, a sustainable funding mechanism must be developed if SBHCs are to become an integral part of the health care and educational systems.

1. Federal Authorization for SBHCs

Our national organization, the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC), will be working with congressional supporters to reintroduce a bill to make SBHCs a federally authorized program. Likely sponsors on the House side are California Congresswomen Susan Davis and Lois Capps. The authorization is the first step in getting an appropriation (funding stream) and in making SBHCs eligible for federal funds within other initiatives (e.g., disaster relief, economic stimulus). CSHC will be supporting NASBHC on this effort.

2. Reimbursement for "out of plan" services

Managed care plans are the primary vehicle through which insured, low-income children receive their health care in California. When SBHCs provide services to students enrolled in health plans, they are often not reimbursed because the child already has a primary care provider and hence the SBHC is providing “out of plan” services. CSHC is working with individual health plans to develop reimbursement mechanisms that are mutually beneficial for the SBHC and the health plan. NASBHC is also seeking a mechanism to address this issue at the federal level. The inclusion of SBHCs in reauthorization of CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), known as Healthy Families in California, provides an opportunity to work at both the state and federal levels on mechanisms for ensuring reimbursement for SBHC services.