Thank you for your support of school-based health care! Because of you, we’re more than halfway to meeting our goal of $20,000 dollars. Your support is critical as we continue to move forward with our youth engagement work and advocate for school-based health care on Capitol Hill. We are thrilled to share with you our latest update and again thank you for your support.
Youth Track – Empowering Tomorrows Leaders
At our 2012 Convention held in New Mexico this past June, more than 50 Youth Track participants learned about the skills necessary to advocate for school-based health care. The engaged group of high school students, from across the country, talked about the importance of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in their communities, about SBHCs as a form of social justice, and visited the SBHC at the Laguna Pueblo. Follow this link for pictures of the Youth Track’s three days in Albuquerque.
NASBHC Launches National Youth Advisory Council
We are excited to announce the launch of NASBHC’s new National Youth Advisory Council (YAC). Youth – ages 15-21 who have used a SBHC or worked to address health care issues that affect young people – are eligible to apply for a two-year position on the council. As a SBHC advocate, you are encouraged to support students to submit an application by September 14th. For more information, review the NASBHC YAC Overview.
This is just the beginning of an exciting campaign to increase youth engagement in our work. With your support we will continue to help empower youth and to encourage them to become active participants in their health and education.
School-Based Health Care Leaders to Meet in Washington, DC
Leaders from NASBHC’s eighteen state affiliates will convene in Washington, DC this November to continue to develop a sustainability strategy for SBHCs. They will also strategize about ways to strengthen our national and state advocacy efforts and will meet with members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Your donations allow us to bring these advocates to our nation’s capital to share their stories about the unique challenges SBHCs face in their communities.
New Staff
We’re pleased to welcome two new staff members since our last Global Giving update: Hayley Lofink, Director of Research and Evaluation and Joanna Kuebler, Communications Director.
Hayley Lofink is a researcher in the field of Medical/Nutritional Anthropology and has designed, implemented and published research examining nutrition-related health inequalities and disparities. Her projects have examined how economic pressures, cultural contexts, physical environments and public policies influence nutritional and physical health among African American children in Philadelphia, children of Mexican migrant workers in New Jersey and British Bangladeshi adolescents in London. Her recent work has explored ways to improve access to obesity prevention and child weight management programs among children from low-income families through community-based approaches. She has a doctoral degree from the University of Oxford and undergraduate and Master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Joanna Kuebler has served in senior communications roles in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S Senate, as well as at the state government level in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She served as communications director for United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for six years, including directing the communications operation for Senator Brown’s successful 2006 campaign for U.S. Senate. Prior to joining NASBHC, Joanna served as director of the Global Campaign for Education, U.S., a coalition of more than 30 non-profits, NGOs, faith-based groups, and unions dedication to ensuring access to education for all. Joanna has worked closely with TV, print, and radio media successfully crafting and placing stories and opinion pieces with The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today as well as on CNN, MSNBC, and 60 Minutes and has led the development of national and international online media and grassroots communications plans.
Links
NASBHC has been extremely busy these last few months, and we’re excited about all we have to share in this Global Giving report. Your support is what makes all of this possible, and we’d like to thank you for having such an impact on the health of youth and adolescents.
School-Based Health Center Capital Grant Program
On May 9th, 2012, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced the next round of construction and equipment grants for SBHCs: $75 million to be awarded to approximately 150 sponsors from the School-Based Health Center Capital (SBHCC) Program. This funding is in addition to previous disbursements of $95 and $14 million in funding throughout 2011.
This one-time investment, combined with local funds that support school-based health care, will improve health and education outcomes for thousands of students. Together, we pushed hard for SBHC’s inclusion in the Affordable Care Act, and this funding is a direct result of our work, supported by donors like you.
These bricks and mortar dollars are an important first step – but SBHCs need direct federal financial support for operations to continue delivering quality comprehensive services to our nation’s children and adolescents. We know we can count on you to help us keep up the fight as we continue to advocate for school-based health care in your community and around the country.
NASBHC Updates:
Oral Health
Last summer, the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC), in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, launched a training and technical assistance project with 20 school-based health centers (SBHCs). During the 10-month initiative, the grantees expanded the capacity of school-based primary care clinicians to deliver preventative oral health services.
The program was a huge success. The grantees now have the knowledge and capacity to identify children and adolescents that are at risk for dental diseases, and referral networks with local dental providers to ensure that high risk patients have increased access to treatment services, as well as a dental home. Several of the current grantees will conduct a storyboard poster session at the 2012 National School-Based Health Care Convention to discuss their experiences with the project.
We are proud to announce we have awarded a second round of grants to 20 organizations in 10 states. Click here for a list of the grantees. These SBHCs will participate in a 14-month quality assurance collaborative designed to enhance the capacity of school-based primary care clinicians to deliver oral health preventive services. Learn more about this exciting program, and our partnership with Kaiser Permanente, on our website.
New Staff
We’re pleased to welcome two new staff members since our last Global Giving update: Joy Twesigye, Program Manager, and Molly Foltzer, Program Assistant.
Joy Twesigye, MS, MPP, WHNP-BC joined NASBHC in 2012 as the Program Manager. Her diverse background in health care equals over 10 years of direct care delivery, working with government agencies/programs, public and private payers, and health care institutions. In her position at NASBHC she is responsible for overseeing and monitoring project management, delivering and developing training materials as well as managing two large national cooperative agreements with federal agencies.
Molly Foltzer joined NASBHC in May of 2012 as a Program Assistant. Prior to this position, Molly worked as a Health Educator and Crisis Counselor in the Women’s Health and Reproductive Justice Field. She also has experience supporting immigrant health through medical interpretation services, and acted as the Prevention and Education Intern for a HIV/AIDS related nonprofit. Molly graduated from Dickinson College with a BA in Sociology, Spanish, and Health Studies. She is currently a MPH Candidate with a focus in Health Promotion.
NASBHC’s 2010 – 2011 Annual Report Available Online
The theme of 2010 - 2011's Annual Report is Breakthrough: A Year of Growth and Change, and it highlights our recent successes advancing school-based health care on Capitol Hill, in communities, and in schools; advocating for national policies, programs, and funding; and building community capacity to provide high quality, comprehensive services. View and download our Annual Report online.
2012 National School-Based Health Care Convention is June 24 – 27th in Albuquerque, New Mexico!
Every year the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) brings together more than 800 child and adolescent health providers and advocates for the National School-Based Health Care Convention.
The 2012 theme: New Directions for School-Based Health Care: Hot Topics for our Future highlights our focus on recent advancements of school-based health care on Capitol Hill, in communities, and in schools.
NASBHC’s Convention is the premier advocacy, networking, and continuing education forum for school-based health professionals and those interested in and working around the intersection between health and education.
To view a preliminary program and to register online visit www.nasbhc.org/convention.
Links:
Thank You for Bringing Smiles to Students
from the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
We all know that getting through school is hard enough. There are tests to pass, relationships to manage, and maybe worst of all, gym. But imagine if, on top of everything else, you were dealing with dental health issues so severe you were only able to eat apple sauce comfortably. That’s exactly what one young man had to suffer through. Luckily, his school-based health center was able to provide him with the dental care he needed to get back to focusing on his grades. Now, every time the school-based health center staff sees him in the hallway, he’s smiling.
Your support is putting the smile back on the faces of students like the young man at the Woodlawn health center. Thank you for making our first Global Giving campaign such a monumental success! Your support has helped:
None of this would be possible without you! We’re ecstatic to have such a devoted group of supporters, and we’re thrilled to join you as a member of the Global Giving community. Together, we’ll make sure that all children and adolescents are healthy and achieving at their fullest potential.
Stay tuned for more stories and updates from SBHC Awareness Month and beyond and thank you for supporting school-based health!
Links:
