Grants have been awarded to 15 organizations in order to expand dental and mental
health services in schools. "Caring for Kids: Expanding Dental and Mental Health Services through
School-Based Health Centers" is a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
administered by the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools Centers.
Each project site will be able to use the $220,000 grant allocation toward testing and promoting new
models of mental and dental health services in existing school-based health centers. Project sites are in
Alabama, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
North Carolina, Texas and Washington.
There are more than 1,400 school based health centers in the United States. The importance of these
centers is rooted in the following facts:
*Only 16 percent of all children receive any mental health services. Of those receiving care, 70-80 percent
receive that care in a school setting.
*About 60 percent of the nation's 1500 school-based health centers have mental health professionals on
staff. With support from primary care providers, nearly 80 percent of centers provide crisis intervention
services.
*More than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related illness.
*34 percent of schools identify or refer for dental problems.
*According to CDC, school-based dental sealant programs could increase the prevalence of dental
sealants and reduce or eliminate racial and income disparities among children with sealants.
To learn more about Caring for Kids: Expanding Dental and Mental Health Services through
School-Based Health Services, please go to: www.healthinschools.org/cfk/cfkpress.asp
Source: The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools www.healthinschools.org February 5, 2002