The time to make a difference is now On Monday, February 5th, the Legislature will convene and school-based health centers are first on the agenda. We need your written testimony – letters of support – submitted immediately.    What Does HB 4070 do?   HB 4070 (bill language found here) asks for four things: Planning grant opportunities for local communities to implement a school-based health center or school nurse model according to their priority needs. ($1,400,000) Inflationary increase of 10% to th ..read more

New School-Based Health Center Outreach Toolkit The Oregon School-Based Health Alliance (OSBHA) is pleased to provide you with a toolkit to support communications about your School-Based Health Center and ensure SBHCs are recognized as a community resource for families and young people to receive health services.  The toolkit was developed with input from youth and SBHCs from across Oregon. They identified the materials that would be most useful for sharing information with your communities and their feedback inspired a creative design to reflect our state’s diversity. Explore t ..read more

Oregon School-Based Health Alliance staff discuss how they partner with youth as they work to develop school health services in Oregon.  Youth Adult Partnerships ..read more

The Oregon School-Based Health Alliance is seeking board members to join our 2022 board! This is an opportunity to engage in: building community, supporting work at the intersection of health and education, learning and using fundraising skills, implementing the organization’s strategic plan and vision, and more - all of which we will provide training for. Prior board experience is not required. We are looking for a diversity of skills and backgrounds. We are committed to making sure that our board reflects the diversity of the communities engaged in and impacted by the organization’s w ..read more

In our June newsletter, we provide an update on our HB 2591:   We are THRILLED to report that HB 2591 passed the Joint Committee on Ways and Means UNANIMOUSLY!! It passed the House floor this past Tuesday and has one more step, a floor vote in the Senate, before it moves to the Governor's office to be signed.   The bill provides funding for three things: 10 planning grants for school districts to do a school health needs assessment and then develop either a school nurse model or a school-based health center to meet identified health needs; 3 grants for school districts to develop a ..read more

By Amira Hassen   In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I decided to write this blog highlighting the effects of COVID-19 and the importance of taking care of your mental health. First, what is mental health? As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a contribution to his or her community". During this pandemic, a lot of us have experienced our mental health deteriorating. One of the ..read more

In our May newsletter, we announce our Youth Advocate Conference. We're excited for this upcoming event and have provided more information below.  Youth ages 14-22 please come join us in sharing your school-based health experiences and needs to receive a $20 gift card and inform how the needs of your community will be addressed! Please register here or by searching "Youth Advocates Conference," on Eventbrite. With marginalized youth voices in mind, the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance is hosting the Youth Advocate Conference fo r youth ages 14-22, May 12t ..read more

Written by Student Health Advocate, Azucena Morales Santos   Introduction Sexual assault or assault of any kind can occur to anyone. I understand that sexual assault is a sensitive topic that may be triggering to some, and I want to make space to acknowledge and respect those feelings. Still, I believe it is important to talk about these topics so that it is not taboo or something shameful to talk about. In this blog post, I will talk about what sexual assault is and share my experience. I will discuss ways to be an ally for survivors of sexual assault.   What is sexual assault ..read more

OSBHA 2021 School Health Advocacy Day   Oregon School-Based Health Alliance's 2021 School Health Advocacy Day, like a lot of things, looked a little different this year.  Youth from all around Oregon joined us virtually on February 23rd to learn about Advocacy, and meet virtually with each other and their local legislators. Students facilitated 26 meetings with their legislators to discuss the importance of school-based health services, learned about elevator pitches, and why they are the most important advocate for school health services. They talked about current le ..read more