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September E-News The West Virginia School-Based Health Assembly (WVSBHA) promotes health services in schools to help students be healthy learners. As a state-wide membership organization, the Assembly brings together interested individuals and organizations to advance comprehensive health care in school settings through responsive policies, practices and partnerships. Three areas that the Assembly is currently pursuing include advocacy to promote, protect and preserve the school-based health center (SBHC) model, revising the Standards and Guidelines for SBHCs, and development of new communication and awareness strategies. Periodic e-news will be sent throughout the year. For more information on membership and the WVSBHA, visit: www.wvsbha.org. Advocacy Update The Roadmap to Health Project is the current legislative initiative to build a state-of-the-art health care delivery system in West Virginia. Four workgroups in the areas of wellness and prevention, health care redesign, chronic care and administrative simplification have been working on policy recommendations. A new interactive website has been designed for lawmakers, doctors, providers and health care professionals to freely exchange ideas and keep informed For more information: http://healthcarereform.wvlegislature.gov. WV Has the Second Highest Percent of Chronically Ill Children according to new report released by the WV Center on Budget and Policy. To view the issue brief, visit: www.wvpolicy.org. Step Up for Kids Day! You are invited to join Prevent Child Abuse WV and Every Child Matters (ECM) as part of a free, non-partisan, nationwide event, "Step Up for Kids Day," on September 16, 2008 to bring attention to issues affecting children and our future. The event will be held from 9:00-11:00 am a the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences and will feature panelists First Lady Gayle Manchin, Tom Heywood (Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love), Jeff James (Create West Virginia), Kenny Perdue (AFL-CIO) and Rev. Matthew J. Watts. Register online at www.preventchildabusewv.org/StepUp4Kids. It's Census Time! The National Census School Year 2007-2008 is a triennial school-based health center (SBHC) survey conducted by the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) to provide a snapshot of school-based, school-linked, and mobile health center operations in the United States. This information will help to document the growth of SBHCs and describe the diversity of models in our state and across the country. Additionally, the data will assist NASBHC, WVSBHA, and others in the SBHC movement who are involved in advocacy, policy-making, and research. For the best and most accurate picture of SBHCs nationwide, we need full cooperation! Please look for the Census mailing in the coming month. NASBHC Call for Abstracts! Share your expertise, best practices, resources and tools with school-based health professionals at the 2009 national convention to be held June 24-27 in Hollywood, Florida. Deadline for submission is October 24, 2008. Visit www.nasbhc.org for more details. Resources and Learning Opportunities Newly Revised! West Virginia’s Children’s Services “Alphabet Soup” Acronym Index & Glossary Is your brain scrambled from trying to understand the jargon and initials used by schools and agencies that serve WV children? Download yourself a free translator! The WV System of Care has just revised their family-friendly "Alphabet Soup" glossary – download it at: www.wvsystemofcare.org/Portals/8/Acronyms7-2008.pdf It’s a New School Year…. Are Your School Mental Health Services Where You Want Them to Be? NASBHC has an online tool that can help! The Mental Health Planning and Evaluation Template (MHPET), developed in partnership with the Center for School Mental Health (CSMH), is an online survey used to assess and improve the quality of mental health services delivered within school-based settings. The MHPET can be used both as a planning tool for new programs as well as an evaluation tool for established programs. To access the MHPET online, go to: http://www.nasbhc.org/mhpet. National Rural School-Based Health Symposium: The National Rural School-Based Health Symposium will be held on October 17 and 18 in Cooperstown, NY. The conference is aimed at physicians, nurse practitioners, mental health and educational professionals who are interested in establishing SBHCs throughout the US. WV is excited that Paula Fields with the Marshall University Technical Assistance Team will be presenting a workshop on practice management. For more information, go to: www.nationalruralsbhsymposium.org. WV Rural Health Association Conference: October 28-30, Glade Springs Resort. For more information, contact the Division of Rural Health and Recruitment at 558-4382. West Virginians for Affordable Health Care Third Annual Membership Meeting: Saturday, October 25, 10:00-2:00 (location to be confirmed) www.wvahc.org WV Association of School Nurses Fall Conference: November 5 - 7, 2008, Ramada Inn South Charleston, WV. www.wvasn.com. Growing Healthy Children Conference on Child Health and Development: November 13-14, John XXIII Pastoral Center. The Conference will include plenary sessions on public policy and child health and medical homes, as well as workshops on oral health, perinatal concerns, and child development. The 2008 “No Greater Legacy/Distinguished West Virginia Award” will also be presented. More information coming soon! Sign up for e-mail updates on this conference at www.wvhealthykids.org. Congratulations Are In Order To.. Patty Snodgrass and the staff at Sistersville General Hospital in opening a new school-based health center in Tyler County. The school-based health center is the first in the county and will serve both Tyler County Middle School and Tyler County High School. Elaine Rhinehart, 2008 School Nurse of the Year from Wirt County and Cassandra Judge, School Nurse from Jackson County as Runner Up! Elaine Rinehart is responsible for developing an organized health services program that included support for a school-based health center. She has overseen the placement of automated external defibrillators in county schools and directs the annual first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation courses for school employees. Rinehart and runner-up Cassandra Judge of Jackson County, and a member of the WVSBHA Executive Team, will be recognized at the school nurses’ fall conference in November. To John Schlitt, former director of the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care in his new position as Director of Public Policy, Incenter Strategies, The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health. We appreciate John’s leadership and contributions over the past 11 years in developing and growing the school-based health movement, and wish him the best of luck in his new position! To the Rainelle Medical Center School-Based Health Team for being chose as Champions for Children by the Child Youth Advocacy Center of Greenbrier County. The staff will be honored with a reception on October 3, 2008 at the new Greenbrier Library in Lewisburg. |