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.
The Maryland Assembly on School-Based Health Care needs your support on Giving Tuesday, November 29th!
As a PNP in a current Maryland SBHC and President of MASBHC, I see on a daily basis the impact MASBHC’s advocacy and education have on the work of a school-based health center. This impact includes MASBHC successfully advocating for SBHCs to provide telehealth care and providing up-to-date, timely educational opportunities on the changing health care and legislation affecting health centers.
To continue building upon the work we’ve done, we need your help. Your donation will help us achieve the following goals from now and into the coming year:
- Partnering with the Maryland Department of Health to strengthen and support school-based health centers,
- Providing quality educational programs through monthly topical webinars and the annual SBHC conference,
- Representing Maryland SBHCs on critical state and national committees and workgroups,
- Continuing our work with legislative champions to strengthen policies promoting and supporting SBHCs,
- Continuing to work on building the collaboration between SBHCs and Managed Care Organizations.
Please support MASBHC on Giving Tuesday or donate today!
Our goal for this special event is $5000.
We thank you for your donation— your contribution helps expand the quality and reach of SBHCs for our students in greatest need.
With gratitude,
Tresa Wiggins, MSN, RN, CPNP, President of MASBHC
Upcoming Webinars & Events
On January 30th, MASBCH presented a webinar on Considerations for Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Children in Immigrant Families.
Presenters:
Meghan Crosby Budinger, MS, LCPC, Program Director
Rheanna Platt, MD, MPH, Consultant
Maryland Behavioral Health in Pediatric Primary Care (BHIPP)
This training reviewed considerations for providing care for children in immigrant families and/or non-English speaking families. The presenters presented a framework for understanding the influences on mental health and development, the impacts of these influences, and policies and practices that can mitigate risk and promote well-being. The presentation also included an overview of BHIPP and the vast services it provides.
To view the presentation, click here.
On December 13, 2022, MASBHC presented a webinar on “Pediatric Oral Health Update” by Diana Capobianco, DDS, Growing Smiles. This presentation provides participants with useful tools and rules for assessing pediatric oral health. Topics include the urgency of care as well as when and where to refer. Growing Smiles founder, Dr. Diana Capobianco, is a pediatric dentist with over 20 years of experience in dentistry for children in Maryland.
To view the presentation, click here.
To view the PowerPoint, click here.
On November 21, 2022, MASBHC presented a webinar on “The Positive Depression Screen: Mental Health Conversations with Teens and Families” by Patricia Kapunan, MD, MPH, Montgomery County Public Schools and Jean Fletcher, CPNP, Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, Children’s National Hospital. This presentation described screening tools for depression such as the PHQ-9, Modified for Adolescents, how to interpret the results and discussing the results with teens and parents.
To view the presentation, click here.
To view the PowerPoint, click here.
Here are some additional resources for Spanish speaking students, offered by Dr. Kapunan and Jean Fletcher:
For Spanish language resources from SAMHSA, click here.
For teen handouts, youngwomenshealth.org or youngmenshealthsite.org for a variety of health topics as many of their handouts are also in Spanish. Here is a sample: https://youngwomenshealth.org/guias/depresion/ .
“School Based Health Centers, Asthma, and the Statewide Integrated Health Improvement Strategy (SIHIS)” by Dr. Cliff Mitchell, MDH, was presented on 10/26/22
This program described Maryland’s efforts to improve overall pediatric asthma population health goals in the state under the Statewide Integrated Health Improvement Strategy and the state asthma program, and the role that school based health centers can play in improving asthma outcomes through partnership with local health department home visiting programs.
To view the webinar click here.
To view Dr. Mitchell’s power point, click here.