​"Linking School-Based Health Services and Community Schools

to Address the Needs of Students and Families"

Policy Brief by Sally Dreslin and Adrienne Anderson

April 24, 2025​

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Key Takeaways:​

• By establishing schools as hubs of coordinated services, we build a safety net that can fundamentally enhance the health and well-being of students and their families.

• In addition to the primary care-focused school-based health centers (SBHC), there are also SBHCs that provide only dental services (SBHC-D), and school-based mental health clinics (SBMHC) that provide assessment and mental health services.

• Community Schools represent an integrated educational approach designed to transform traditional schools into community hubs by offering comprehensive services and supports to students and their families.

• In NYC, approximately 420 out of the City’s 1,700 public schools are Community Schools. The NYS Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) survey identifies approximately 820 Community Schools statewide.

• In NYC, 118 of the 421 Community Schools have access to a SBHC.

• Outside of NYC, 41 of the 365 Community Schools have access to a SBHC.

• We were not able to assess the overlap of Community Schools and SBMHCs because the data is not publicly available.

• To enhance the linkages between school-based health services and Community Schools, it is important to

  • Make more Community Schools data publicly available

  • Establish a statewide office with resources dedicated to Community Schools

  • Ensure the sustainability of school-based health centers

  • Streamline the requirements to establish school-based health services

• As NYC implements reduced class size requirements, it is essential that classroom space be preserved for school-based health services.

• Given the current uncertainty of federal healthcare and education funding to states, it is more important than ever to maximize the value of State spending. Linking school-based health services and Community Schools is a low-barrier, high-impact approach to improving educational and health outcomes for students, and to better engaging families and the surrounding community in supporting student success.
   

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