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School Health Bulletin
March 19, 2010
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151,964 children in Oregon live below the Federal Poverty Level
This is one of the state indicators that you will find in the 2009 County Data Book, provided by Children First for Oregon. You can download the full report or the data sheet for your county at www.cffo.org.
Oregon's Healthy Kids plan ensures health insurance at no cost for those children.
By now you have surely heard about this historic plan. If you need a quick fact check, visit www.oregonhealthykids.gov.
 The Network’s Role
The Oregon School-Based Health Care Network intends
to build a model for expanding Healthy Kids enrollment
for children who attend schools with SBHCs.
The Network has received a grant from the state to build outreach and
enrollment for the Healthy Kids program. Initially, and in cooperation
with the Commissions on Children and Families in Washington and Yamhill
Counties, the Network will support outreach and enrollment in four high
schools. These schools were selected due to the high proportion
of students who are uninsured, qualify for free/reduced price lunch,
and who reside in communities in which unemployment has skyrocketed
since 2007.
Our goal is to improve enrollment
in these counties, and to share the lessons we learn with SBHCs across
the state to develop “best practices” for enrollment.
 SBHCs
have a unique opportunity and responsibility to market Healthy Kids to
an established audience of eligible children and families. Of
the 25,000 children who accessed health care from Oregon SBHCs during
the 2008-2009 school year, 47% reported that they had no insurance. The
SBHC community must be
knowledgeable and prepared to guide those children and families to the
appropriate community resource for timely enrollment.
For more information, contact Betse
Thielman, Healthy Kids in Schools Program Director, at the Network by
calling (503) 813-6400 or e-mailing betse@osbhcn.org.
2010 Community Forum - YOU are invited......
to an important discussion about the priorities of your community.
The Oregon Department of Human Services and Oregon Health
Authority are hosting a series of statewide public forums this spring.
We invite you to come share your ideas about local needs and priorities
for the 2011–2013 budget and beyond.
View the invitation, with dates and locations here.
Meetings will take place throughout the state in April and May.
Celebrating success with
Ashland and Sacajawea School-Based Health Centers
The Sacajawea Health Center recently raised $3,000 with the "Touch the Heart of a Child"
campaign. The friends of the center earned significant press
coverage, coinciding with SBHC awareness month in February. Read
the articles here: January 29, 2010 March 15, 2010.
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NASBHC summarizes health care reform
The
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care released an update on the
state of federal health care reform and how it might impact
school-based health care. Click here to read it.
More interesting reading....
The
Washington Post ran an "easy to read" article on March 15 that
identified critical elements of President Obama's health care
bill. Read it here.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation published a report from SCI
regarding the role of the health insurance exchange on a state level. Read it here.
The
American Public Health Association and the Kellogg Foundation will
partner to support school, health and education policy. Read it here.
Resources for your Advocacy Tool Kit - Oral Health
Oral Health belongs in SBHCs
Letter from Linda Linda Juszczak, Executive Director, NASBHC
USA TODAY's article "Study: 1 in 5 kids don't see dentist each year"
highlights the dire situation of children's oral health in our nation.
Fortunately, almost 2,000 school-based health centers across the
country exist to provide vulnerable children and adolescents with the
comprehensive medical attention they need, and for many, this includes
dental care.
It comes as no surprise, then, that a majority of those states
receiving an A, B or C grade for their dental health policies are home
to school-based health centers that provide oral health services. (See the Pew Center on the States report: The Cost of Delay - State Dental Policies Fail 1 in 5 Children.)
 A
recent national census of these centers found that a majority provide
oral health education (84%) and dental screenings (57%) to students. A
smaller percentage are able to provide dental examinations (20%),
sealants (25%) and dental cleanings (23%).
These services are provided without concern for the student's
ability to pay and in a location that meets students where they are —
at school.
We need policies that work to help children and adolescents get
access to dental care so that they are healthy and ready to learn.
School-based health centers are a proven model of care with which to
deliver these vital services.
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Building School and Community Partnerships
ING - Run for Something Better School Awards Program
As school-based health centers look for opportunities to build
meaningful partnerships with school faculty and administrators, the
Network will strive to make you aware of opportunities for funded
projects that are timely and important calls to action that everyone
can embrace.
ING Run
For Something Better, in partnership with the National Association for
Sport and Physical Education, seeks to increase physical activity in
students and help fight childhood obesity through the creation of
school-based running programs.
Fifty grants of $2,000 will be awarded. These
funds can be used to establish a school-based running program or expand
an existing one. Awards are available in all fifty states and the
District of Columbia. Programs must target grades four through eight in
public elementary or middle schools and have at least 25 students
committed to the program in order to apply.
Deadline: April 15, 2010
Please contact ING for more information and to apply for this funding:
http://www.orangelaces.com/site/index/get_your_school_involved
Training and Professional Development
Oral Health Webinar - March 30, 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Integrating Oral Health into Coordinated School Health:
Empowering School Nurses to Take Charge
The Network has one pass to this webinar - EMAIL us if you can use this pass as a partnership opportunity with your school nurse.
Adolescent Sexuality Conference - April 13 & 14
Community Campus Partnerships for Health - May 12 - 15
Transformation Through Partnerships
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May 5, 2010 is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Since the early 1990s, the teen pregnancy rate has declined 38 percent and
the teen birth rate has declined 31 percent.
The most recent news, however, has not been positive.
The teen birth rate has now increased five percent between 2005 and 2007.
Many teens say they are concerned about pregnancy, but still think “it can’t happen to me.”
But it does - to nearly 750,000 girls every year.
The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens
on the importance of avoiding teen pregnancy and other serious consequences of sex.
Find out how your community can be involved at
Do you have news or announcements to share?
SBHC's activities to share in the School Health Bulletin
Paula Hester
Executive Director
503-813-6420
P.O. Box 12191, Portland, OR 97212
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