The Maryland Assembly is an advocacy organization that promotes school-based health care as a means to advance the belief that all Maryland children and youth have a basic fundamental right to access and receive comprehensive, quality health care.
School-based health care represents an essential strategy toward improving the lives of Maryland’s children and their families and optimizing their ability to become contributing members of society. School-based health care addresses the unique needs of children and youth and increases access to medical, mental, dental and/or other health related services.
MASBHC’s biggest initiatives include our participation in Hallways to Health through the School Based Health Alliance, our annual conference, and our advocacy work.
2021 Apple Award Honorees
The Maryland Assembly on School-Based Health Care is honored to announce this year’s Apple Award recipients. We are proud to honor and show our appreciation to four legislative champions for school-based health care in Maryland.
These four legislators worked tirelessly on two 2021 bills that will have lasting impact on Maryland SBHCs:
- Senator Cheryl Kagan, District 17 for SB 278 Emergency Telehealth Bill for SBHC
- Samuel(Sandy) Rosenberg, District 41, for HB 34 Emergency Telehealth Bill for SBHCs
- Senator Clarence K Lam, MD, District 12 for SB 830 Transferring SBHCs administration to the Maryland Department of Health
- Delegate Bonnie Cullison, District 19, for HB 1148, Transferring SBHC administration to the Maryland Department of Health
Watch for information on the upcoming live stream awards ceremony when MASBHC will honor these outstanding recipients. We hope you will plan to join in the celebration!
MASBHC Board of Directors
Upcoming Webinars & Events
Save the Date!
The Maryland Assembly on School Based Health Care webinar,
“Maryland Minor Consent for Mental Health Care Law Update” will be presented on
Wednesday, September 29, 2021, at 3pm by the following list of distinguished speakers:
Delegate Heather Bagnall, District 33
Larry Epp, Ed.D., LCPC. Sheppard Pratt-Gaithersburg
Jill Bohnenkamp, Ph.D., National Center for School Mental Health
The webinar will provide an overview of Maryland’s new regulation addressing consent for minors to access mental health treatment. This new regulation decreases the age for minors to consent to mental health care from 16 to 12 years old in Maryland on October 1, 2021. This regulation was passionately debated in the legislature, and the presenters believe the overall impact will be positive in widening access to mental health services to marginalized and high-risk youth. This law will affect all youth but will have a particular positive impact in the LGBTQ + community, those whose families object to mental health services, those who may be victimized by their families, and youth in imminent crisis the ability to access needed care more easily. The need for mental health access for adolescents also will be discussed.
This webinar is free to participate but space is limited, so register today on the event’s Zoom page. Register here.
“This activity has been submitted to the Maryland Nurses Association for approval to award 1 contact hour. The Maryland Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.”
For more information, please contact masbhc@gmail.com.
School-Based Health Alliance and National Association of School Nurses
In May, the School-Based Health Alliance and the National Association of School Nurses released the following statement: “School Nursing & School-Based Centers Working Together for Student Success.”
Thank you to all school nurses, SBHC nurses and school nurses working in SBHCs.
To view click here
Announcing 2021 Landmark Legislative Session for MASBHC
To all the MASBHC and SBHC supporters:
We at the Maryland Assembly on School Based-Health Care are enormously proud to announce a historically successful legislative session for school-based health centers. Due to the outstanding work of the MASBHC policy committee and board members working with Public Policy Partners (Robyn Elliott and Rachael Faulkner); House and Senate members; and SBHC champions, two significant improvements in support of SBHCs and our students passed and are on the brink of being enacted! Note Senate Bill 278/House Bill 34 – submitted as an emergency bill – once signed by the Governor, will immediately go into effect.
- Senate Bill 278/House Bill 34 – State Department of Education and Maryland Department of Health – Maryland School-Based Health Center Standards – Telehealth o Requires the State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Health to allow health care practitioner at an approved school-based health center to provide health care services through telehealth; and prohibits the State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Health from establishing any further or additional requirements for a school-based health center to provide health care services through telehealth.
- Senate Bill 830/House Bill 1148 Secretary of Health – School–Based Health Centers – Guidelines and Administration of Grants o Requires the Secretary of Health, in consultation with the State Department of Education and other stakeholders, to develop guidelines to support the expansion of school-based health centers and requires transfer of the administration of school-based health center from the State Department of Education to the Maryland Department of Health Bureau of Maternal and Child Health on or before July 1, 2022
The Maryland General Assembly became much more familiar with SBHCs and heard various rounds of incredible testimony and support from the virtual floor. This is a huge step forward and we are ready to continue making big strides!!