BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 10
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AJR 10 (Brownley) - As Introduced: March 30, 2011
SUBJECT : School-based health centers.
SUMMARY : Supports the school-based health center program
authorized by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act; supports an appropriation by the United States Congress to
fund the school-based health center program; and, supports the
inclusion of school-based health centers in the reauthorization
of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act as an
important strategy for ensuring that pupils are physically and
mentally healthy and therefore ready to learn. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes findings that:
a) School health centers, which operate in 176 schools
across California, are an integral part of the state's
health care delivery system, providing preventative and
treatment services to pupils who may otherwise have no or
limited access to health care.
b) School health centers improve academic achievement by
increasing the physical and mental health status of pupils,
thereby raising attendance rates, reducing dropout rates,
and improving classroom attention and behavior.
c) Despite challenging academic times, many communities
across California have made it a priority to piece together
local, federal, and private money to start and run school
health centers.
d) There is still a high level or unmet need for school
health centers because many California children do not have
access to high-quality, affordable health care, as shown by
the fact that 1.5 million California children were
uninsured for at least part of 2009, which is up 40% from
2007, and by the fact that one in five California children
lack dental coverage.
e) Low-income children and children of color are less
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likely to have access to health care, with only 32% of
children in families with incomes below the federal poverty
line, 32% of Latino children, and 42% of African American
children having a "medical home", as compared to 66% of
Caucasian children.
f) The Legislature has already demonstrated its strong
support for school health centers through the passage of
important pieces of state legislation, including the
Healthy Start Support Services for Children Act and the
Public School Health Center Support Program.
g) The United States Congress authorized a school-based
health center program in the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, but did not appropriate money to fund
it.
2)Resolves that the Legislature supports the school-based health
center program authorized by the federal Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, as enacted by the United States
Congress in 2010.
3)Resolves that the Legislature supports an appropriation by the
United States Congress to fund the school-based health center
program authorized by the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act.
4)Resolves that the Legislature supports policies that include
school-based health centers as a partner in creating a medical
home for all children.
5)Resolves that the Legislature supports the inclusion of
school-based health centers in the reauthorization of the
federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act as an important
strategy for ensuring that pupils are physically and mentally
healthy and therefore ready to learn.
6)Resolves that the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the
United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH), in cooperation
with the California Department of Education (CDE), to
establish a Public School Health Center Support Program
(PSHCSP) to perform specified functions relating to the
establishment, retention, or expansion of school health
centers in California.
2)Defines, for purposes of the PSHCSP, a "school health center"
to mean a center or program that provides age-appropriate
health care services at the program site or through referrals,
and may be located on or at a local educational agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the California School Health Centers
Association (CSHCA), the first school health centers in
California opened in 1987 in Los Angeles, San Jose and San
Francisco. There are currently 176 school health centers in
California. A vast majority of school health centers operate on
school campuses and 10% are mobile vans that serve multiple
schools. Of the centers located on school campuses, 27% are in
elementary schools, 10% are in middle schools, 38% are in high
schools, and 10% are on mixed-grade campuses. The majority of
communities served are low-income areas where many children lack
health coverage. In school districts with school health
centers, 21.5% of the children live in families with incomes at
or below the federal poverty line in contrast to 15.3% of the
children in districts without health centers.
School health centers are administered by a variety of
organizations, including school districts, Federally Qualified
Health Centers, community health centers, hospitals, county
health departments, and private physician groups. A school
health center will typically include nurse practitioners,
nurses, and mental health care providers as well as part-time
physicians and medical students in training. Lab facilities for
routine tests are often located on the site. Some centers also
offer dental care. School health centers are financed through
grants from local and private sources as well as reimbursements
from Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP), Medi-Cal,
Family PACT and Healthy Families.
Prior legislation : SB 564 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 381,
Statutes of 2008, expanded the definition of "school health
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centers" and requires the DPH, to the extent funds are
appropriated for implementation of the PSHCSP, to establish a
grant program to provide technical assistance and funding for
the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school
health centers and the development of new school health centers,
as specified.
AB 2560 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 334, Statutes of 2006, required
the Department of Health Services (DHS), in cooperation with the
CDE, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program
located in the School Health Connections Office.
SB 566 (Escutia) of 1999 sought to establish the School Health
Center Grant Program, to be administered by DHS, to provide
grants to qualifying school health centers in order to assist
the centers in providing health services to students, provided
that funds for this purpose are provided in the annual Budget
Act. The bill also sought to require DHS to establish a study
group to explore long-term strategies for the support of school
health centers, and the incorporation of these centers into a
coordinated, comprehensive health care system. This bill was
held on Senate Floor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California School Health Centers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087