Giving Compass' Take:

• School-based health centers can provide primary care to students that need it, as well as mental health services that they might not otherwise receive. 

• How is school-based healthcare particularly helpful in rural communities? 

• Read about how access to healthcare at school can reduce absenteeism. 

Here’s a devastating fact for youth living in underserved neighborhoods: Poor health can translate into poor school attendance, lower educational achievement and a shorter life.

Now here’s a better one: School-based healthcare offers this group a chance to beat the odds.

Offered through safety-net clinics, school-based health centers provide primary, preventive and mental-health services to the children and youth who can’t otherwise access quality healthcare.

The centers are powerful tools for addressing health equity because they not only increase access to care but also promote educational attainment.

Research shows that kids in schools with health centers are 22 percent more likely to have a healthcare visit in the past year.

Read the full article about healthcare in school by Sally Lemke at The Hechinger Report.