For more information on the Rally and the Convention go to: NASBHC.org

In our last annual report, the Maine Assembly on School-Based Health Care (Maine Assembly) noted that School-based health centers (SBHCs) are here to stay! Why? Our state’s 27 school-based health centers, visited almost 15,000 times annually by Maine middle and secondary school youth, are an essential tool for staying healthy over a lifetime.

Providing accessible community and consumer-driven services, with an emphasis on quality, SBHCs are safety net providers who address our youth’s most pressing challenges—in the areas of healthy eating and exercise habits, stress management, alcohol, cigarette and drug use and reproductive health. Providing safe and easily accessible services, School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are there for young people.
In 2009, the Maine Assembly and its constituent SBHCs built on this identity to make significant contributions to both Maine and national health policy affecting school-age youth. Our report describes this essential work as we stand on the threshold of national health reform, which entails a powerful, sustainable role for school-based health centers.

Because in the end, it’s all about the health of our young people, our report also showcases the vibrant and diverse work of individual centers.

These two stories—of affecting policy and serving our students and their communities—are both critical to the future of the Maine Assembly, described in the last section of our report, “Moving Forward.”

Please review the full report: Maine Assembly 2009 Annual Report Final

PORTLAND – High school students urged gubernatorial candidates Tuesday to maintain and possibly increase state funding for 27 school-based health centers in 17 Maine districts.

Members of the student health center outreach teams at Deering and Portland high schools hosted a breakfast for gubernatorial candidates in the State of Maine Room at City Hall and provided a tour of the health center at Portland High.

Students said the health centers are a cost-effective, convenient way to provide health care to students. Services range from physical exams and dental cleanings to mental health counseling and birth control for sexually active students.

“We want more school health centers,” said Mandi Arnott, a Deering High senior.

Democratic candidates Pat McGowan, Libby Mitchell, John Richardson and Steve Rowe attended the breakfast, along with Republican candidate Peter Mills and Dr. Melanie Cutler, wife of independent candidate Eliot Cutler.

Nearly 14,300 students — about 7.5 percent of Maine’s public and private school population in kindergarten through high school — have access to school-based health centers, according to data provided by the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.

About 94 percent of all visits to Maine’s school-based health centers last year were covered by public or private insurance. About half of those visits were made by students covered by MaineCare, a publicly funded health insurance option for low-income people.

Students and others at Tuesday’s breakfast said the centers help to reduce sick days, emergency room visits and hospital stays, as well as tobacco and marijuana use.

They described the centers as important community resources that should have dependable state funding.

Last year, the operating budgets of 20 school-based health centers were funded partially by the state, while the others were privately funded, according to the Muskie school.

This year, 18 centers are getting state funding.

After the breakfast, McGowan said he was impressed with the student outreach teams and the potential for peer-to-peer health education initiatives stemming from school-based health centers.

“There should be more of them,” McGowan said. “I’d like to learn more about it.”

Mitchell said she believes that all Maine students should have access to school-based health centers. “It’s a perfect example of something that works but isn’t available to all Maine students,” she said.

Richardson said he was especially impressed with the centers’ potential to reduce costs through preventive health care and educational outreach, including anti-smoking and alcohol prevention campaigns.

“It makes perfect sense,” he said. “This would be a high priority for a Richardson administration.”

Rowe said he’s an advocate for providing a stable funding source for school-based health centers.

“The centers provide health services for many students who might not otherwise have access to comprehensive health care,” he said.

“And having healthy citizens is critical to having a healthy economy.”

Mills said he has been a fan of school-based health centers for years.

“You don’t have to persuade me of their value,” he said, noting that some companies are offering health care services in the workplace because it reduces employees’ time off the job for illness or medical appointments.

Cutler, who is a child psychiatrist, said the centers would factor into her husband’s plan to review how health care is delivered across Maine.

She said the centers’ approach jibes with her husband’s desire to address health care issues before they become health care problems.

Several students representing the health center at Lewiston High School also attended the breakfast.

Members of the student health center outreach teams at Deering and Portland high schools hosted a breakfast for gubernatorial candidates in the State of Maine Room at City Hall and provided a tour of the health center at Portland High.

Democratic candidates Pat McGowan, Libby Mitchell, John Richardson and Steve Rowe attended the breakfast, along with Republican candidate Peter Mills and Dr. Melanie Cutler, wife of independent candidate Eliot Cutler.

Students said the health centers are a cost-effective, convenient way to provide health care to students. Services range from physical exams and dental cleanings to mental health counseling and birth control for sexually active students.

“We want more school health centers,” said Mandi Arnott, a Deering High senior.

About 94 percent of all visits to Maine’s school-based health centers last year were covered by public or private insurance. About half of all visits were made by students covered by MaineCare, a publicly funded health insurance option for low-income people.

Several students representing the health center at Lewiston High School also attended the breakfast.

Maranacook Students Will Unveil Video Asking Lawmakers to Help Prevent Youth Smoking

Members of the Maranacook Student Health Center Advisory Committee want lawmakers to take action on youth smoking, starting by increasing Maine’s tobacco taxes right away.

On Tuesday, March 23rd, students from the Committee will travel to the State House to unveil their new video calling on lawmakers to raise the tax on cigarettes in order to help prevent youth smoking, and equalize the tax on other tobacco products to keep kids from finding cheaper alternatives, like “little cigars” and chewing tobacco.

Parents and school administrators will also be in attendance. They will express their concern for Maine’s rising smoking rates and the Legislature’s lack of action in raising the price of tobacco products, despite the proven link between higher prices and reduced youth smoking.

WHAT: Press Conference Calling for a Tobacco Tax Increase

WHEN: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 10:30am

WHERE: Taxation Committee Room #127, State House, Augusta

WHO: Chuck Hays, Maranacook High School student
Justin Greeley, Maranacook High School student
Emily Allen, Maranacook High School student
Dr. John Barnes, Maranacook parent and Readfield physician
Rich Abramson, Superintendent of Maranacook Area Schools

CONTACT: Carol Kelly (207) 210-0789

You can also explore the “Find Events & Trainings” section of our website to discover more ways to find skillbuilding opportunities as well as promote your events & trainings.

News Flash: In light of the economic climate and ongoing budget cuts, MYAN is waiving the fees for our skillbuilding trainings (Partnering for Change, Advocacy in Action & Everyone At the Table). When registering for one of those trainings, use the promotional code “freetraining” when you check out and 100% of the cost will be waived.

http://www.myan.org/

Cindy Dolben RN
Noble Health Center
388 Somersworth Rd
North Berwick, Maine 03906
Phone 207-676-2175
Fax 207-676-2204
cdolben@sad60.k12.me.us

“You cannot educate a child who is not healthy, and you cannot be healthy if you are not educated.”

To the editor: The passage of health care reform in the House of Representatives was an important and exciting moment for all those dedicated to the idea that all Americans need and deserve access to high quality, affordable health care. Maine’s two representatives, Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, deserve a vote of thanks from all of us for being part of the majority that made this happen.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act is a large and complex piece of legislation, with many important provisions. One of them of particular interest to families and children concerns school-based health centers (SBHC’s). SBHC’s provide a vital link in delivering health care to kids who need it most. The health reform bill creates a new program that will support SBHC’s at many locations in Maine and around the country.

I am the coordinator for the Noble Health Center at Noble High School and a member of the Maine Assembly on School-Based Health Care. MSAD #60 has the only SBHC in York County. We are thrilled that the House saw the wisdom of incorporating this successful program into a national vision for health care. Now, we must get on with the equally important job of passing a Senate bill, that ensures access to high quality, affordable health care.

To make the important investments in our children that we know are needed, and will pay big dividends in the future, we must finish the work that has been so successfully begun. Please call Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and ask them to support health care reform that will meet the needs of all our children.

Cynthia Dolben, RNBS

South Berwick, Maine