HLS 15RS-1524 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 39
BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Designates Thursday, April 23, 2015, as School-Based
Health Care Awareness Day in Louisiana
1 A RESOLUTION
2To designate April 23, 2015, as School-Based Health Care Awareness Day in Louisiana.
3 WHEREAS, school-based health care facilities are an important statewide resource
4helping to address the health care needs of underserved and uninsured children, providing
5needed preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services, including direct primary and mental
6health care for acute and chronic illnesses, health education, case management assistance,
7and immunizations; and
8 WHEREAS, these facilities provide vital counseling on threats to children's health
9such as childhood obesity, asthma, smoking, substance abuse, violence, and safety issues,
10as well as behavioral problems ranging from mild to severe; and
11 WHEREAS, in 1990, as policymakers became concerned about the high morbidity
12and mortality rates of adolescents, the office of public health in the Department of Health
13and Hospitals was asked to determine the feasibility of opening school-based health care
14facilities; and
15 WHEREAS, in 1991, the Adolescent School Health Initiative was enacted and
16school-based health care facilities came into existence around the state; and
17 WHEREAS, a school-based health care facility provides convenient access to
18comprehensive, primary, and preventive physical and mental health services for public
19school students at the school site; and
Page 1 of 2 HLS 15RS-1524 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 39
1 WHEREAS, as students spend a significant portion of their day on school grounds,
2school-based health care facilities are accessible, convenient, encourage family and
3community involvement, reduce student absenteeism, reduce parental leave from work for
4doctor visits, and work with school personnel to meet the needs of the students and their
5families; and
6 WHEREAS, school-based health care facilities complement school nurses and social
7workers because generally the scope of practice of school nurses and social workers is more
8limited than that of the school-based health care facility, which has a broad mandate; and
9 WHEREAS, the school-based health care facilities are able to provide
10comprehensive health services to students, providing treatment for minor illness and injury,
11comprehensive physicals as may be required for school-related activities, behavioral health
12counseling, treatments for chronic diseases, required vaccines, and other beneficial services
13to enhance the learning environment of a school; and
14 WHEREAS, at this time sixty-two school-based health care facilities are operated
15in twenty-seven parishes throughout the state; and
16 WHEREAS, these health care facilities serve an additional fifty-three feeder schools;
17and
18 WHEREAS, during the 2013-2014 school year, over forty-seven thousand students
19have made nearly one hundred fifteen thousand visits to school-based health care facilities.
20 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
21Legislature of Louisiana does hereby designate April 23, 2015, as School-Based Health Care
22Awareness Day in Louisiana.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
24to the Louisiana Alliance on School Based Health board president, Tracy Parker.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 39 Original 2015 Regular Session Smith
Designates April 23, 2015, as School-Based Health Care Awareness Day in La.
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