The Health Services component promotes:
- The provision of coordinated, accessible health and mental health services for students and staff which include violence prevention, school safety, communicable disease prevention, dental exams, immunizations, parenting skills, first aid, health education, and others;
- Identification of and linkage to community health liaison and resources; and
- Primary coordination of school health services through the school nurse.
Goal: Advocate for the development of an effective system to meet the health needs of students, staff, and families.
School-Based Health Centers
During the 1996 Legislative session, an appropriation was placed in the Department of Health budget for school health with an emphasis on the maintenance and expansion of school-based health centers. Standards and protocols for school-based health have been developed and training in their use is being planned. The Standards for school-based health centers were developed in conjunction with the Managed Care Organizations. There is an annual on school-based health and mental health care, "From Head to Toe: A Conference on School Health,".
School-Based Immunization Project
A project to promote provision of immunizations in schools by school nurses is being maintained in 15 school districts. Schools applied to be Vaccines for Children providers and agreed to maintain the pharmacy
licenses in the future. Partners in this project are Department of Health, State Department of Education, and the Board of Pharmacy.
Children With Special Health Care Needs
An interagency collaborative group has combined resources to establish standards of care for medically vulnerable students. Those participating include Department of Health, State Department of Education, Human Services Department, and school nurses who work with medically vulnerable students from Albuquerque and Santa Fe schools.
Medicaid in the Schools
Almost all school districts either have or have applied for a Medicaid provider number. The Department of Health and State Department of Education have developed guidelines for nurses who conduct Tot-to-Teen (EPSDT) screenings in the schools. In addition, services currently reimbursed to schools by Medicaid include social work, case management, speech and
language therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. With the advent of Medicaid Managed Care, there will be changes in coverage. Click here to visit the New Mexico Medicaid in the Schools website.
School Health Services Personnel Duties, Credentials & Supervision
Development of a formula to determine staffing patterns of school health service personnel with various levels of training and experience based on the physical and emotional health needs of a defined school population is in process. The proposed structure includes recommendations for duties, credentials, and supervision of all school health services
personnel. A group consisting of representatives from the Department of Health, State Department of Education, New Mexico School Nurse Association, New Mexico Nurses Association, parents, and colleges of nursing collaborated in this effort.
Healthier Kids Fund
The Healthier Kids Fund was created to provide primary care services for school age children who are uninsured or underinsured. School nurses and other school personnel who identify children in need of health care services but without a source of payment may refer the children for enrollment to a Medicaid Primary Care Network provider or the Children's
Medical Services office in their community.
Child Sexual Abuse Reporting
Guidelines for health practitioners, including those in schools, on reporting child sexual abuse are being written by an interagency group comprised of the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office, Children, Youth, and Families Department, Department of Health, All Faith's Family Services, University of New Mexico Para los Ninos program, University of New Mexico Rape Crisis, and the University of New Mexico Social Work.
For questions, comments and to send mail:
hsc@healthierschools.org
Interested in becoming a member of the Healthier Schools Coalition (or even just getting on our mailing list)? Click here to go to the online HSC membership form.
Healthy kids make better students.
Better students make healthy communities.
Related Links:
Healthier Schools New Mexico provides links to related sites only as a courtesy to our internet readers. Healthier Schools New Mexico makes no claim as to the accuracy of any information presented on other internet sites and is not responsible for their content.
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