What We Do

The Washington School-Based Health Alliance has been advocating for school-based health services since 2010. A pivotal moment for the Alliance was in 2020, when Representative Monica Stonier partnered with WA SBHA to implement a SBHC work group with over 30 school-based heath stakeholders; in 2021, the Washington legislature established grants for SBHCs across the state.

The Washington School-Based Health Alliance continues to support and advance school-based health care in Washington through:

Partner Engagement

• Educate the public, partners in health and education, and policymakers about the health care needs of Washington’s children and the role of school-based health centers in advancing health and academic equity for all students.
• Liaise between SBHC communities and advocacy coalitions focused on youth health, healthcare, and education.
• Advocate for SBHC priorities when developing supportive policies and funding with foundations, businesses, government entities, individuals and other funders.
  • WA SBHA takes a two-pronged approach, supporting the startup and operations of SBHCs on-the-ground in communities as well as strategically convening and communicating with healthcare and education partners at the policy level.

Legislative Advocacy

• Advocate for state funding to start, operate, and expand school-based health centers.
  • The 2023 AGO statement concludes that SBHCs, as a partnership between school districts and private/public health agencies, are viable recipients of state funding.
• Promote legislation that supports whole-child wellbeing.
  • WA SBHA works with contract lobbyists to advocate for WA SBHA & SBHC priorities in Olympia.
• Ensure students have access to high-quality physical and mental/behavioral healthcare by protecting access to medically accurate, confidential, culturally relevant, and age-appropriate health services in school
• Serve as the nonprofit partner to Washington’s Department of Health to execute HB 1225.

Capacity-Building

• Support planning and start-up processes of SBHCs.
• Identify and resolve challenges, both present and future, that prevent SBHCs from providing efficient, high-quality care.
  • Our approach: identify a problem affecting SBHCs, convene with relevant stakeholders across the healthcare/education spectrum to identify actionable solutions, follow-through with action plan to deliver SBHCs results. We prioritize our work based on concerns communicated directly to us from SBHCs as well as prospective healthcare and education legislation or policies.

Training and Technical Assistance

• Offer tailored, one-on-one support initiated by an individual member, affiliate, or organization to address their specific needs. Technical assistance topics are determined by the requesting party, who seeks targeted assistance and connections to relevant resources. This process provides individualized solutions, access to resources and tools, and/or introductions to peers.
• Coordinate structured learning opportunities designed for a broader audience. These offerings are typically coordinated by WA SBHA and welcome subject matter experts to achieve objectives determined by WA SBHA and our partner(s). Training topics are identified as priorities by the broader SBHC community.