About the NYS Coalition for School-Based Health Centers
The New York State Coalition for School-Based Health Centers ("Coalition") was formed in 1992 as an advocacy organization representing the interests of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in New York State. The Coalition became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in 2009. The mission of the Coalition is to create access to comprehensive, high-quality primary care, including medical, mental, oral, and community health services, for all children and youth statewide through SBHCs. The Coalition achieves this by advocating for policies that promote the sustainability of SBHCs; promoting the delivery of high-quality services; raising awareness of the school-based health model; and promoting the growth and expansion of SBHCs. The Coalition has been very successful in executing its mission; today, nearly 200,000 children in the state have access to school-based health services.
The Coalition is governed by a Board of Directors who are a volunteer group of dedicated professionals committed to the continued delivery of health care services to children and adolescents through SBHCs. Kim Urbach, University of Rochester, is the current Chair of the Board of Directors.
The Coalition is a state affiliate of the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC). NASBHC (www.nasbhc.org) advocates for national and state policies, programs and funding that will sustain, grow, and integrate school-based health care into our nation's health care and education systems to promote greater academic success.
In August 2004, the Coalition was one of nine grantees awarded a six year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of a nation-wide effort to expand and improve the SBHC model throughout the United States. In accepting the grant funds the Coalition agreed to adopt and advance Kellogg's vision, "School-based health care will be financially stable, available and accessible to children and families, and supported as a consumer-centered model of quality care throughout the United States." For more information see Center for School, Health & Education.
The Coalition is the only organization that actively and effectively advocates for school-based health care in New York State. The Coalition has a strong voice in Albany that has been able to secure over $21 million in annual government funding from the state legislature and the Department of Health. Without the Coalition's existence, funding for school-based health care would be in serious jeopardy.
