HHS announces new investment in school-based health centers

Posted on 07/14/2011 @ 12:54 PM

Remember the days when there were nurses in schools?

In Miami-Dade County, school nurses are not a thing of the past. The Children's Trust spearheaded HealthConnect, a comprehensive, three-tier, quality-driven health initiative with the goal of having the healthiest children possible in Miami-Dade County. They provide a team of nurses/nurse practitioners, social workers and health aides to public schools to provide needed health and mental health services.

We thought it was important to draw attention to these services currently being provided in our community in light of today's news release by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. In the news release, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced awards of $95 million to 278 school-based health center programs across the country. "Provided by the Affordable Care Act, the awards will help clinics expand and provide more health care services at schools nationwide."

We at The Children's Movement strongly believe that adequate health care is vital to a child's future success. As Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put it, "These grants will make it a lot easier for working moms and dads to help get their children the health care they need and deserve."

To read the full HHS news release, click here.

What do you think about schools providing basic health services for their students?