School-Based Health and Education Partnership Program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program to assist health centers in schools and school districts. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, subject to an appropriation, to establish a grant program to provide funding for, among other things, expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school health centers. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to develop a request for proposal process in order to collect information on applicants and determine which proposals shall receive funding. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to give preference to, among others, schools with a high percentage of low-income and uninsured children and youth or schools with a shortage of health professionals. Existing law defines, among other things, a "school health center" for those purposes to mean a center or program, located at or near a local educational agency, that provides age-appropriate health care services at the program site or through referrals. This bill would instead define a "school-based health center" for those purposes to mean a student-focused health center or clinic that, among other things, is located at or near a school and is organized through school, community, and health provider relationships. The bill would instead require, on or before January 1, 2026, the State Department of Public Health to collaborate with the Office of School-Based Health Programs within the State Department of Education in order to award grant funding, as specified, to applicants. This bill would revise and reorganize the above-described preferred recipients and give preference to school-based health centers, as defined, serving, among others, schools in which more than 55% of pupils serviced are unduplicated pupils, as defined, or areas experiencing health disparities in child and adolescent access to primary care, behavioral health, preventive health, or oral health services. Existing law requires the above-described Public School Health Center Support Program to perform various functions, including, serving as a liaison between organizations within the department, as specified. This bill would instead require the State Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Office of School-Based Health Programs within the State Department of Education, to provide the above-described assistance to school-based health centers. The bill would also repeal a related provision requiring the Public School Health Center Support Program, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to act as a liaison for school-based health centers. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, upon appropriation, to establish standardized data collection procedures and collect certain data, relating to services and funding, from school health centers on an ongoing basis. This bill would require the school-based health centers to report data to the State Department of Public Health if they receive grant funding. The bill would eliminate the requirement on the State Department of Public Health to collect data on health services provided at a local educational agency outside a school health center. This bill would make other conforming changes.