School-Based Health Care Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the School-Based Health Care Initiative?
- What is school-based health care?
- Who is eligible to apply?
- What will the initiative fund?
- What won’t the initiative fund?
- Will the initiative fund school wellness activities that don’t include direct health care services?
- What is the application process?
- What is the deadline to apply for funding?
- How much money is available?
- How will projects be selected?
- What will the reporting requirements be for funded projects?
- What resources are available to help complete the Readiness Assessment and Business Plan?
What is the School-Based Health Care Initiative?
The Colorado Health Foundation’s School-Based Health Care (SBHC) initiative is a four-year, $10.8 million program to support school-based health care, including:
- school-based health centers;
- coordinated school-based mental health services; and
- coordinated school-based dental health services.
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What is school-based health care?
The Foundation’s vision for school-based health care includes school-based health centers and coordinated school-based mental health services and school-based dental health services, as defined below.
School-based health centers. According to the Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care (CASBHC), “A school-based health center (SBHC) is a health care facility located within or on school grounds. It is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of medical and behavioral health specialists. Sometimes dental professionals are also included on the multi-disciplinary team.”
Each school-based health program is different, but a sampling of services might include comprehensive well-child and well-adolescent exams, immunizations, treatment for illness or injury, management of chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes or asthma, mental health assessment and treatment, prevention programs including smoking, violence and pregnancy, substance abuse counseling, nutrition counseling and dental cleaning and sealants.
Coordinated school-based mental health services. School-based mental health services include a continuum of services from prevention and early intervention to diagnosis and treatment of emotional or behavioral problems. In order to be considered for funding through this initiative, school-based mental health services should be coordinated with a system of primary care. The mental health professionals who most commonly participate in school-based programs are school counselors, social workers and school psychologists. School nurses often participate in problem identification and counseling as well as parent engagement. Community-based mental health providers may bring their services into the school, consult with school staff on individual problems or collaborate with the school community in developing mental health promoting environments.
Coordinated school-based dental health services. In the past decade there have been a number of innovations developed to strengthen oral health programs for underserved populations. These programs may focus on preventive services such as oral hygiene education and sealant programs. They may include educational programs for parents. They may also include restorative services for diseased teeth and gums. To be effective, prevention and screening programs must be tightly linked to treatment services that can address any problems identified. In order to be considered for funding through this initiative, school-based mental health services should be coordinated with a system of primary care.
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Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible organizations include schools, school districts, community health centers, community hospitals, health care agencies, parent or family groups, social service agencies, business groups, youth-serving organizations and faith-based organizations. Prospective grantees must represent partnerships that include individual schools with the support of their governing districts or respective charter boards.
The applicant organization must be either a public agency or a nonprofit organization and be recognized as the appropriate lead agency by the other project partners. Respective districts or individual charter boards must be a part of the partnership, but are not required to be the lead organizations.
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What will the initiative fund?
The initiative will fund:
- Planning grants of up to $20,000. The planning grant is to be used to develop a multi-year Business Plan. The Business Plan will be the centerpiece of the application for an implementation grant. Planning grant funding may be used to hire a consultant to develop the business plan, to convene community partners and to conduct research necessary to plan for school-based health care services.
- Implementation grants will be awarded based on the funding needs identified in the Business Plan. Grants of up to $400,000 over four years will be available for operating costs. The Foundation will also consider modest requests to construct or renovate facilities.
Funding will be used to support the development of new school-based health centers and the integration of mental or dental health services into existing school-based health centers. In some cases, the initiative may fund the development of mental and/or dental health services that are not part of a comprehensive school-based health center but that are coordinated with other community-based primary care services. Specific examples of programs that are eligible for funding under the initiative include the following.
- A school district seeks to plan for and implement a new school-based health center at one of its schools.
- A school that currently has a school-based health center that provides physical health services and seeks to integrate comprehensive mental and/or dental health services into the center’s services.
- A school district that currently has a school-based health center at one school and seeks to add another school-based health center at another school.
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What won’t the initiative fund?
The initiative is intended to support the delivery of school-based health care services that are consistent with the Foundation’s goals and Measurable Results. Some examples of programs or activities that are not eligible for funding under the initiative include:
- Mental or dental health services that is not coordinated with a system of primary care; and
- School nurse salaries.
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Will the initiative fund school wellness activities that don’t include direct health care services?
Through its responsive grant program and other investments, the Foundation supports a variety of Healthy Schools activities. The School-Based Health Care Initiative funding is intended to support the delivery of health care services.
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What is the application process?
The first step in applying for funding through the School-Based Health Care Initiative is to complete the Readiness Assessment. Together with a brief online application, the Readiness Assessment will serve as the application for a planning grant. The Readiness Assessment is comprehensive and is intended to help applicants identify community needs, resources and partners. Once the Readiness Assessment is completed, applicants will fill out the Foundation’s School-Based Health Care application. The Readiness Assessment will be uploaded as an attachment to the application.
The second step of the application process is the awarding of planning grants. Based on the Readiness Assessment, the Colorado Health Foundation will award a planning grant of up to $20,000 to help communities develop a multi-year Business Plan. The Business Plan will be the centerpiece of the application for implementation funding. A template Business Plan will be available soon.
The third step in the process is the awarding of implementation grants. Based on the completed Business Plans and implementation funding application, grantees will be eligible for up to $400,000 over four years to implement their Business Plans.
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What is the deadline to apply for funding?
The Colorado Health Foundation will accept requests for planning and implementation funding four times per year — January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on the deadline date. When these dates fall on a holiday or weekend, the deadline will be the next business day. You may submit an application at any time and it will be reviewed with the next grant cycle. Please allow four months for review of the application and a funding decision.
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How much money is available?
Planning grants of up to $20,000 are available to help communities conduct research and planning and to develop a Business Plan. Implementation grants will be based on the funding needs identified in the Business Plan. Implementation grants will be for four-years, up to a total of $400,000.
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How will projects be selected?
Funded projects will meet the information requirements outlined in the Readiness Assessment and the Business Plan. They will also embody the following characteristics.
- Emerge from identified needs and gaps in care experienced by children and adolescents in the community
- Be founded on the strengths of students, families and communities
- Be located in schools or on school campuses and be integrated with both in-school and community-based resources, avoiding duplication of effort
- Build on investments made by Colorado public and private organizations in supporting children’s health through more effective prevention and treatment services at school
- Demonstrate credible plans to sustain project efforts through institutional and community support as well as patient care billing and reimbursement strategies
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What will the reporting requirements be for funded projects?
Grantees will be expected to meet the requirements of the Colorado Health Foundation for submission of narrative and financial reports. These requirements are essential for the Foundation to meet its obligation to report on the use of its tax-exempt funds. The reports also enable the Foundation to measure progress on its three goals: Healthy Living, Health Coverage and Health Care. Grantees will also be asked to provide periodic information needed for overall project performance monitoring and management.
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What resources are available to help complete the Readiness Assessment and Business Plan?
The Foundation is partnering with the Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care (CASBHC) to provide resources and support to communities interested in applying for the funding. CASBHC will provide technical assistance to help communities complete the Readiness Assessment. CASBHC will also develop a list of consultants who can help communities complete the Business Plan. However, communities are not required to use one of the consultants on CASBHC’s list.
The Resource Guide contains a variety of organizations, publications and Web-based resources related to school-based health care services.
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