School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan / June 2013
The CLC model has had a major impact on the expansion of School Based Health Centers and in establishing a community-wide culture of collaboration on issues facing children. CLCs serve as hubs for community services, providing access for students,families and community to health, safety and social services, as well as recreational, educational and cultural opportunities. Resource Coordinators assist in enrollment in services and coordination of activities. …
What are the Key Elements of Success?
The integrated health and academic data system reflects the leadership and advocacy of several key individuals and groups in Cincinnati. Pivotal forces include the following:
• The Cincinnati School District superintendent has been a long-standing leader and advocate for supporting students’ learning and academic achievement through school-based health care. The superintendent has played a major role in bringing together the health, educational, and other community groups in collaborative work to advance students’ health as a mean of influencing academic success. She also is a strong advocate of data-based decision-making; it was the superintendent herself, for example, who selected the software used to link health data with school records.
• The Board of Education includes members who are actively engaged in developing cross-sectorial
approaches to identifying and meeting both the health and the educational needs of students in Cincinnati. The CPS Board of Education has been a driving force and leading advocate building bridges between the health and educational communities, for example. Partnership between Community Learning Centers and school-based health centers was key to the success in drawing support for including health data in academic
school records.
• The Director of the Cincinnati Community Learning Center Institute has played a vital role in supporting school nurses and school-based health care, establishing Community Learning Centers in Cincinnati, and advocating for data systems that include health and academic data. Among other things, the director helped establish Growing Well; helped to achieve buy-in from community partners in supporting and submitting data to the health/academic database; and played a key role in successfully advocating for the expansion of SBHCs.
http://scha-mi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/KresgeCaseStudies-FINAL.pdf