School-Based Health Centers Must Come with Guardrails
Is this another example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions
- Across the nation, School-based Health Centers (SBHCs) are showing up in schools from pre-K through grade 12 without guardrails in place to protect minor students and the rights of parents.
- In 1985, there were 31 SBHCs in the nation. In the 1990’s, this ballooned to over 1,000. By 2020, that count was around 2,500. Today there are over 3,000 SBHCs and hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money from the federal government to rapidly expand these “medical homes” in our nation’s schools. The Biden-Harris administration has prioritized SBHCs as a key opportunity to access children during the school day, and priority funding and partnerships have launched SBHCs to new levels.
- What exactly is a School-based Health Center? SBHCs are clinics located on school property that are intended for use primarily by students, but unless a state prohibits it, the clinic can be open for staff, families in the district, or even people unaffiliated with the school (like a walk-in clinic).
- SBHCs are different from the traditional school nurse model where students receive first-aid services in response to accidents or illnesses experienced during the school day or on or near school property. SBHCs are designed to diagnose and treat children during school hours and provide preventative and ongoing care. They are intended to be a “medical home” where a child can get preventative treatment (such as vaccines), specialty care (such as mental and behavioral health counseling and prescription treatment), reproductive health counseling and treatment, and so much more.
- SBHCs are not new. What’s new is an emerging anti-parent agenda taking root in federal, state, and local policies across the country.
- Without guardrails, each SBHC can decide their own policies and no parental rights protections exist to safeguard our children and protect the fabric of the family.
Schools need and should be at the center of our communities. However, community building is a luxury for those with means so very few parents have the time that is necessary make a meaningful participation. Under these circumstances our communities will fall prey to the agenda of the Corporate-State. One of thew successes trumpeted by supporters of SBHCs has been their roll in boosting vaccination rates compared to schools without these facilities. Will these centers further the goals of an American medical community that now favors surgical solutions for adolescent psychiatric problems?
TAKE ACTION
Contact your state legislators and let them know that School-based Health Centers must come with guardrails
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