SENATE MEMORIAL 15

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO RECOGNIZE THE URGENT NEED FOR SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CARE AND THE NEED FOR RESEARCH FOCUSED ON IMPLEMENTING SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CLINICS AS A VITAL COMPONENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO ADDRESS BARRIERS TO MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE DURING AND AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 PANDEMIC.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's students and their family and household members may endure high levels of adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, trauma, substance misuse and violence, resulting in poor school achievement and lack of job readiness; and

     WHEREAS, countywide surveys implemented by the one hundred percent New Mexico initiative have identified that New Mexico's students and their family and household members may lack access to medical care and behavioral health care due to cost, lack of transportation to services, inconvenient hours, lack of awareness of services and their benefits, lack of insurance and lack of qualifying for care; and

     WHEREAS, students and their family and household members who face untreated medical and behavioral health care challenges and related hardships may fail to become job ready and secure steady employment, resulting in the incapacity to contribute to the local and state economy by paying taxes; and

     WHEREAS, students and their family and household members who face untreated medical and behavioral health care challenges and related hardships may increase involvement in the overburdened child welfare, law enforcement and judicial and prison systems, with increased costs to state government; and

     WHEREAS, models for cost-effective school-based health centers exist but may not be widely known to the entire school community, health care community and city and county stakeholders; and

     WHEREAS, the need for and benefits of school-based health clinics, ideally part of the community schools model, have been documented in academic journals for decades; and

     WHEREAS, recent events that include the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and related economic disruption and joblessness have focused new attention on the urgency for accessible medical and behavioral health care in the school setting, an environment shown to be one of the easiest for students and their family members to access; and

     WHEREAS, in some New Mexico counties, surveys of parents of school-aged students have revealed that almost thirty percent of those needing medical care cannot easily access it and almost fifty percent of those seeking behavioral health care cannot easily access it; and

     WHEREAS, in San Miguel county and seven other counties, where stakeholders are engaged in the one hundred percent New Mexico initiative, notably with active action teams in the arena of medical care, behavioral health care, community schools and related sectors, stakeholders committed to accessible medical, dental and behavioral health care are seeking evidence-based and evidence-informed models to decrease barriers to school-based and community-based health care where timely access is most needed; and

     WHEREAS, the article "Expanding Medical and Mental Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The New Mexico School-Based Health Center 'Hub and Spoke' Model" by Matthew Probst details how access to quality health care in the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is of paramount importance; and

     WHEREAS, based on preliminary El Centro family health data, the New Mexico school-based health center hub and spoke model is highly successful in providing both increased access to health care and improved quality outcomes during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and

     WHEREAS, El Centro family health is now implementing hub and spoke school-based health center health care delivery across San Miguel, Colfax, Guadalupe, Harding, Mora, Taos and Rio Arriba counties; and

     WHEREAS, school-based health clinics began using the hub and spoke pilot model in June 2020 for San Miguel county in response to barriers to access for medical and mental health school-based health services; and

     WHEREAS, the model increases care via telehealth, cross-agency and cross-sector collaboration, proactive health screening, workforce development and peer health education; and

     WHEREAS, in addition to expanding access to care as measured by patient visits, clinical quality measures were superior compared to the non-hub and spoke El Centro family health control group and overall New Mexico school-based health center data; and

     WHEREAS, the implementation of school-based clinics using the hub and spoke model, including other best-practice or promising-practice strategies, would benefit New Mexico by addressing barriers to medical and behavioral health care identified in countywide surveys, especially in rural communities; increasing interventions for preventing coronavirus disease 2019, which can include coronavirus disease 2019 chronic conditions; giving school staff the capacity to address epidemic levels of adverse childhood experiences, abuse, neglect and trauma through family interventions; and increasing supports for all students to improve school achievement and engagement, leading to vocational education and higher education and ultimately job readiness, employment and capacity to contribute to the state's economy by paying taxes;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health and the public education department be requested to jointly create a strategic plan to:

          A. consider potential funding mechanisms to support school-based health clinics based on successful models with partners that may include school districts, city government, county government, state government, health care providers and community partners;

          B. provide a guide for each school district to use to set standards for school-based health clinics in school settings during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in New Mexico;

          C. provide an analysis of the hub and spoke model designed to improve health and education for New Mexico students and families during and beyond the pandemic; and

          D. offer guidelines for local school community partners in developing a cost-benefit analysis of school-based health centers and the return on investment in a post-coronavirus disease 2019 New Mexico where the need for local and timely medical and behavioral health care is critical in addressing challenges related to effective education during the intersection of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, economic crisis and joblessness, childhood and family trauma, barriers to health care and other vital services for surviving and thriving documented in countywide surveys of parents; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the strategic plan be requested to address the needs for school-based medical and behavioral health care, the benefits of the hub and spoke model, among other promising and best practices, and the need for a comprehensive plan to remove barriers to care identified during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a comprehensive reading, review and local analysis of the strategic plan be requested from stakeholders; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to members of the New Mexico legislature, the secretary of public education, the secretary of health, school superintendents, school board members, city council members, county commissioners, county health councils and leaders of higher education departments of medicine, nursing, public health, education and social work.