School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) Respond to the Health Needs of Native American Youth
This information paper highlights some of the health challenges facing Native American youth, how SBHCs are addressing the health needs of Native American youth, and the challenges SBHCs encounter in doing so.
4 YOUTH: Empowering Native American Youth Through School-Based Health Care
W.K. Kellogg School-Based Health Care Policy Program
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded grants to nine state affiliates of the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care to implement a broad array of strategies to increase the sustainability of school-based health centers, including grassroots advocacy, community organizing, and technical assistance. New Mexico’s SBHC Policy Program is called 4 YOUTH, and is the only project in this program that is Native American specific. The 4 YOUTH project is currently in the final year of a five-year grant.
Eloise Smith, member of the ACL SHAC, on the SHAC:
“It addresses issues prevalent in our Navajo and Acoma communities,” discussing issues impacting the health and education of youth, such as teen suicide and drug use. The group also discusses “how do we as parents deal with these issues and better our communities?” Mrs. Smith noted that the community has grown by “encouraging each other and young people ... and their families, so the Teen Center keeps on going.” |
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For more information on 4 YOUTH contact:
505-228-1376
More Native-American weblinks
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4 YOUTH Overview
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Did You Know?
Almost half (40 percent) of Native American children lack health insurance.
More than a third (35 percent) of all uninsured children in New Mexico are Native American — even though only 12 percent of the state’s child population is Native American children.
70 percent of Native American children live on reservations where access to services — especially health care services — is very limited.
Indian Health Services (IHS) is the primary health care delivery system used by more than one-third (38 percent) of Native-American children in New Mexico, but IHS funding is only about 59 percent of the funding needed to provide all medically necessary health care to these Native Americans.
Despite the obvious need in Indian Country for school-based health care centers, they constantly struggle to secure reliable funding, and survive through an unstable mix of state general funds, federal funds, third-party billing, and special grants.
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