February is both Black History Month and National School-Based Health Care Awareness Month. We recognize how critical school-based health services are for Black students, and how much work needs to be done to create equitable school-based health services for Black students. Antionette D. Carroll, President and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab, said that "systems of oppression, inequality, and inequity are by design. Therefore, they can be redesigned." This month and every month, we must ask ourselves how we can support in redesigning systems of inequity within our healthcare and education systems.

We're excited to share several policy updates. In collaboration with our national partners, we have worked to pass SBHC reauthorization on the national level and $5 million for FQHC-sponsored SBHCs (more info below). We are continuing to push for $200 million for SBHCs (regardless of sponsor type) and school mental health nationally. Locally, OSBHA is advocating to increase the number of school health planning grants, add mobile school health models, and allow for telehealth pilots between SBHCs and school nurses through the School Health Expansion Act (House Bill 2591). We are also supporting the Oregon Hispanic Advocacy Commission in their Trauma Informed Schools bill (House Bill 2368). Our goal is to see expansion and funding support with an increased focus on equity and community engagement. Tomorrow, youth and SBHC staff from across the state will virtually come together for our annual School Health Advocacy Day. We look forward to continuing to advocate for equitable school health services in partnership with youth and adults throughout Oregon.

We're excited to welcome to Shian Gutierrez to our team as the new Community Partnerships Coordinator. Shian is working to strengthen partnerships with Latino/a/x focused organizations to ensure that OSBHA's work supports the needs of Latino/a/x youth across Oregon.

My passion in education and human development, plus my own personal life experiences as a woman of color, have led me to focus my work on social justice, collaboration, and connecting around a common purpose. Together we are stronger, and this job provides an opportunity to work in community to create inclusive, fair, and accessible healthcare.

Join us in welcoming Shian to our team! You can reach Shian at shian@osbha.org.

We are pleased to announce this funding opportunity that is the result of advocacy we did in partnership with other state Alliances. This funding is currently only available for existing Federally Qualified Health Centers. We are working on trying to get more for all types of medical sponsors.

More info:

The Oregon School Social Work Association (OSSWA) and the Washington Association of School Social Workers (WASSW) invite proposals for their joint conference this spring, "From Rupture to Reimagining." The conference will be held virtually May 13-14, 2021. Deadline for proposals is March 4, 2021 at 5pm. Click here to submit a proposal.

Tomorrow (2/23), our 14th annual School Health Advocacy Day will virtually bring students from across Oregon to the State Capitol for the only youth-driven advocacy event that supports school-based health services in Oregon.

School Health Advocacy Day highlights the effectiveness of SBHCs for our lawmakers. Young people are able to meet directly with legislators to tell the story of how SBHCs have made a difference for them. Since school closures, SBHCs have remained open, providing physical and mental health services, COVID-19 testing, and more through the pandemic.

Registration for Advocacy Day is closed, but if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Jessica@osbha.org.

Thank you to our 2021 School Health Advocacy Day sponsors for their generous support of this event:

Did you know OSBHA has an Instagram? We share news, updates, and events related to school-based health. A few of the OSBHA Student Health Advocates recently hosted a live mental health check-in (watch it here). This month, in honor of Black History Month, some of our Student Health Advocates are sharing reflections on their experiences as Black youth on our Instagram.

Click here to follow along on Instagram.

Missing in School Reopening Plans: Black Families’ Trust, New York Times

"Even as more districts reopen their buildings and President Biden joins the chorus of those saying schools can safely resume in-person education, hundreds of thousands of Black parents say they are not ready to send their children back. That reflects both the disproportionately harsh consequences the virus has visited on nonwhite Americans and the profound lack of trust that Black families have in school districts, a longstanding phenomenon exacerbated by the pandemic." Keep reading.

The Radical History of Self-Care, Teen Vogue

"The medical community latched onto the term self-care in the 1950s, before the Black Panther Party popularized — and politicized — it in the United States during the height of the civil rights movement. The fullness of the Black Panther Party’s legacy has only recently been uncovered, and yet it can be seen everywhere in the wellness space." Keep reading.

Cyreena Boston Ashby: What racial injustice means for vaccination efforts in Oregon, The Oregon Way

"Among Black Americans, there are fears about whether the needs of people of color are being factored into the vaccine development process. About half (48%) of Black adults say they are not confident that the development of a COVID-19 vaccine is taking the needs of Black people into account, and over a third (36%) of Hispanic adults say the same about the needs of Hispanic people." Keep reading.