School-Based Health Centers

School Administrator, Jan, 1999

The number of school-based health care centers providing students with medical, mental health and substance abuse services now totals 1,154, having doubled over the past four years, according to a national survey conducted by Making the Grade, a national resource center on school-based health care.

Most school-based health centers are located in high schools (39 percent) and urban centers (26 percent), according to survey findings. However, the numbers of school-based health centers is expected to expand to more rural communities, where medical and mental health care can be particularly limited.

School-based health centers have begun to tap new funding sources to sustain these programs beyond state funding from Maternal and Child Health Block Grants (Title V of the Social Security Act). However, this source has decreased by $4 million in the past two years. That decline has been offset, in part, by a $1.5 million increase in state general fund support. In addition, school-based health centers are billing third-party payers, such as Medicaid and commercial insurers, for care provided.