School-Based Health Centers

This brief details the process of establishing and operating a school-based health center, highlighting the roles of districts, schools, and sponsoring organizations.

Summary This brief details the process of establishing and operating a school-based health center, highlighting the roles of districts, schools, and sponsoring organizations. The report also explores services offered, utilization, and the impact of SBHCs on student outcomes. Key observations from our research 1. Contacts and existing research suggest a link between school-based health centers (SBHCs) and student outcomes, behaviors, and attitudes. 2. To establish an SBHC, profiled districts partnered with health care organizations after demonstrating a need for health care services. 3. Startup funding for SBHCs comes from federal and state grants. 4. SBHCs largely serve students, but about half of SBHCs in the country serve populations beyond the students enrolled in the host school. 5.SBHCs at profiled districts offer a wide spectrum of family medicine services (e.g., vaccinations, well-child check-ups). 6.Among profiled districts, sponsoring health care organizations run day-to-day SBHC operations, but district and school leaders share some oversight responsibility. 7. All contacts cite data sharing as one of the major barriers SBHCs face because schools and SBHCs are subject to separate privacy laws. Download the Report