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UNPRECEDENTED PARTNERSHIP TO BRING HEALTH SERVICES MIAMI – Thirty-seven schools will receive enhanced health care services for students this spring in the first phase of an unprecedented partnership among Miami-Dade County Public Schools, The Children’s Trust, Miami-Dade County and area health care providers. The School Board on Wednesday approved the business plan for the partnership called School Health Connect. The Board had approved the concept for School Health Connect in September, and the business plan details how the new services will begin to be delivered. In January, The Children’s Trust approved a $6 million contribution to the partnership, which will allow health clinics at 19 schools that faced funding shortages to remain open and add new School Health Connect services at 18 other schools. Those 37 schools represent about 11 percent of Miami-Dade’s public schools. The plan calls for schools to be served by a School Health Connect Team composed of a nurse, a social worker and two health technicians who will ensure that a coordinated level of healthcare is consistently available at every school. The services provided will include, but not be limited to: mandated screenings and assessments with appropriate follow-up; a system for dealing with crisis medical situations; appropriate administration of medications; social histories; mental health counseling; links to other medical providers; and primary care as appropriate. Beginning next school year, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Miami-Dade County Health Department will realign their existing health care services to children to the School Health Connect model. Another set of schools will be added to those being served based on agreed-upon indicators of student health needs such as percentages of failed health screenings, teenage pregnancy rates, and free- and reduced lunch participation. The value of the District’s realignment is $7 million. The county’s services are valued at $3 million. The Children’s Trust will up its contribution to $10 million next year. The business plan calls for all schools to benefit from School Health Connect in the next three to five years. When fully implemented, the program will cost about $40 million annually. # # # 06-LJG/178/JA |
