Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 10
CHAPTER 68
Relative to school-based health centers.
[
Approved by
Governor
July 28, 2011.
Filed with
Secretary of State
July 28, 2011.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 10, Brownley.
School-based health centers.
This measure would memorialize the Legislature’s support for the school-based health center program authorized by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an appropriation by the United States Congress to fund this program, policies that include school-based health centers as a partner in creating a medical home for all children, and the inclusion of school-based health centers in the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, 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; and
WHEREAS, 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; and
WHEREAS, 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; and
WHEREAS, 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 percent from 2007, and by the fact that one in five California children lack dental coverage; and
WHEREAS, Low-income children and children of color are less likely to have access to health care, with only 32 percent of children in families with incomes below the federal poverty line, 32 percent of Latino children, and 42 percent of African American children having a “medical home,” as compared to 66 percent of Caucasian children; and
WHEREAS, 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 (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8800) of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code) and the Public School Health Center Support Program (Article 10 (commencing with Section 124174) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code); and
WHEREAS, The United States Congress authorized a school-based health center program in the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), but did not appropriate money to fund it; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, 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; and be it further
Resolved, 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, as enacted by the United States Congress in 2010; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature supports policies that include school-based health centers as a partner in creating a medical home for all children; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature supports the inclusion of school-based health centers in the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) as an important strategy for ensuring that pupils are physically and mentally healthy and therefore ready to learn; and be it further
Resolved, 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.