Teachers and safety protocols greet returning L.A. students

L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner greets returning students this week at Maurice Sendak Elementary School in North Hollywood.

Thirteen months after the start of the coronavirus quarantine, L.A. Unified students are starting to return to campus this week, and other local districts are following suit. But it will take a big commitment, and a big investment, to get schools and students back on track, according to Austin Beutner, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified.

“Reopening of schools is not a simple exercise,” Beutner said. “COVID safety protocols and testing, class schedules and lesson plans, after-school programs, transportation, meals and much more all need to come together.”  

“It’s heartening to see our students back on campus after this difficult quarantine,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health. ”We must do everything we can to help them recover what they’ve lost in academics and healthcare.”  

Return to Campus Family Guide

This week 72 early education and elementary schools are re-opening for families who have selected in-person learning. The remaining early education and elementary schools will open next week, and middle and high schools will reopen the week of April 26. 

Students and staff are required to take a COVID test before returning to school. L.A. Unified provides testing sites and locations for students and families to obtain a test. The testing hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until April 25. Visit the testing website or call the Family Hotline at 213-443-1300 to schedule an appointment. 

Closing opportunity gaps

“The opportunity gaps for students from families who are struggling to get by will only worsen if they’re not back in schools with their peers from more affluent neighborhoods,” Beutner said in a video update to the LAUSD community.

“It’s simple enough to see the solution — providing vaccinations for families with children in schools is the single most important thing we can do to get more children back in school classrooms.”  L.A. Unified has partnered with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and Northeast Community Clinics to provide 25 school-based vaccination centers.   

Unprecedented investment

An unprecedented investment from the state and federal governments in public schools are invested in services for mental, student disabilities, and proper sterilization of LAUSD campuses for the 2021-22 school year, the superintendent reported.

Beutner said, “$170 million will provide more mental health counselors at schools to help students process the anxiety and trauma of the past year… $140 million investment will update Individualized Education Programs and provide more direct services to students. To help keep schools clean and safe, we’ll invest an additional $220 million in custodial staff, cleaning supplies, upgraded facilities and COVID testing.” 

One challenge: While L.A. Unified saw the same proportion of graduates enrolling in four-year colleges, there was a 9% drop in those who enrolled in two-year colleges. This issue is most acute in lower-income communities. 

Dental disease starts young, so should oral healthcare

Brushter, Gumster and Toothster are the spokes-characters of L.A. County’s “Love Your Baby’s Teeth” campaign, which launched on multiple media outlets last month.

Oral health advocates from public agencies, private foundations, community groups and L.A. Unified explored how to improve children’s dental care starting at an early age at The L.A. Trust’s quarterly Oral Health Advisory Board meeting March 16.

Dr. Abrey Daniel of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health introduced the county’s extensive new Love Your Baby’s Teeth education campaign, launched during Children’s Dental Health Month in February. The campaign features TV, radio, PR and social media.

Daniel said one-quarter of L.A. children age 2 to 4 have tooth decay, and 55% of all lower-income children have dental disease, which is more prevalent in Black and Latinx communities.

“Families where Spanish is (mainly) spoken are at the greatest risk” in L.A. County, Daniel said.

The county’s multilingual campaign includes heavy use of Spanish-language media, and features such elements as dental office posters, bus shelter ads, exam table paper with campaign messages, and giveaway mirror clings to remind kids to floss and brush. The campaign has already reached hundreds of thousands.

Smile, California

Dr. Puja Shah, Medi-Cal outreach consultant, reviewed the California Department of Health Care Services’ “Smile, California” campaign, designed to build awareness and use of the benefits available from Medi-Cal Dental.

The tagline of the campaign is “Medi-Cal Has Dental Covered.” Key messages include getting a child’s first check up by their first birthday; seal today to prevent decay; and Medi-Cal covers dental during pregnancy. The comprehensive outreach includes robust websites in Spanish and English connecting patients and providers, a partner program enlisting community groups and a toolkit with materials for children and family members.

 Shah also noted that the agency was improving its online complaint system so patients can report providers who refuse them care.

More outreach and updates

Cynthia Cervantes, Oral Health Collaborative Consortium liaison from the UCLA School of Dentistry, gave an update on the consortium, which is funded the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Oral Health.

Cervantes stated that the mission of the OHCC is to “support and facilitate the implementation of the L.A. County Community Oral Health Strategic Plan (COHIP) throughout L.A. County through community outreach and leadership in each of four Mega Service Planning Areas. She gave examples of outreach at faith-based organizations, Los Angeles Public Library branches, medical clinics and daycare centers. The consortium will host Oral Health Summits in 2021 and 2022.

Susan Flores, senior policy coordinator from the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, updated OHAB members on Medi-Cal dental appointments during the pandemic. The decreases in monthly appointments ranged from 437,898 in April 2020 to 129,114 last August, the most recent numbers available.

Flores also urged support for two California Assembly bills under consideration. AB526 would allow dentists to vaccinate for Covid and flu, potentially increasing healthcare equity.  AB733 would help expand access to oral healthcare for children and those pregnant enrolled in Medi-Cal by allowing registered dental hygienists to partner with medical professionals to provide fluoride treatments and oral health education and coordinate dental care. It is similar to a bill signed last year (AB890) that allowed physician assistants to perform more oral healthcare.

Gloria Velasquez, organization facilitator for L.A. Unified’s Student Health and Human Services, gave a briefing on school re-openings, including health and testing protocols and the hybrid teaching model.

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust, sounded an optimistic note at the close of the meeting. “The important thing is that nobody stopped working.” She pointed to expanded outreach on social media, TV and video, and events like The L.A. Trust’s ongoing Operation Tooth Fairy, which has distributed more than 58,000 toothbrushes to date. The next meeting of The L.A. Trust’s Oral Health Advisory Board will be held in person or online June 15 in accordance with health directives.

Mental health is a key concern as students return to class

As students return to campus after a year of lockdown, youth mental health will be a paramount concern. 

As Los Angeles Unified and other local school districts reopen, the question becomes, “What comes after COVID?”  

 “We can’t carry on as if the past year hasn’t happened,” says Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health. A year of isolation, economic and food insecurity, distance learning and delayed healthcare have created a crisis for hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County public school students — one that will not disappear when in-person learning starts  later next month.  

Existing healthcare systems, like the 16 LAUSD Student and Family Wellness Centers offering mental health services to schools and communities hardest hit by COVID, will play an important role in the post-COVID recovery process. So will programs like The L.A. Trust’s Student Mental Health Initiative ramping up this year.  

 Wellness Centers key  

“School wellness centers could be an answer to soaring mental health needs in California,” according to a report — “Every Young Heart and Mind: Schools as Centers of Wellness” — released last December by the California Mental Health Service Oversight & Accountability Commission. According to the report, 1 in 6 high school students in California has considered suicide in the past year, and 1 in 3 report feeling chronically sad. LGBTQ students and low-income Black and Latinx students experienced higher rates in both categories and were less likely to receive services intended to help them, the report said.   

 The American Psychological Association recommends teachers use existing processes and referral protocols to identify students who need extra support — especially those suffering anxiety and depression, which can be hard to identify under the best of circumstances.  

Youth Mental Health First Aid  

Teachers, counselors and healthcare professionals are not the only ones who can help. The L.A. Trust staff was trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) last fall and is sharing its knowledge with after-school providers and others.   

The first YMHFA class of 20 after–school providers was held online March 12. “The participants were eager for the information and the feedback was very enthusiastic,” said Eddie Hu, program manager at The L.A. Trust. “Mental health is an urgent issue and this training curriculum is timely and compelling.”   

The Youth Mental First Aid training will be expanded later to include members of The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards and other students on L.A. Unified campuses.  

“People who work with students — and students themselves — need to be aware of the danger signs of suicide and self-harm,” said Hu. “The crisis is real  —  without training we can miss the red flags.”  

YMFA training is part of The L.A. Trust’s Student Mental Health Initiative, a multi-pronged effort funded by Health Net, Cedars-Sinai, Dignity Health and Ballmer Group. It includes a Youth Mental Health Collaborative launching this month, made up of LAUSD leaders, Wellness Center staff, and community mental health organizations to identify and resolve obstacles to care. Student input will be a key component informing the group’s work. The group will also advocate for needed policy change at the district and county level.   

 The state of student mental health in Los Angeles Unified School District was acute even before the pandemic. In a screening of 572 LAUSD students, 88% reported experiencing three or more traumatic events in their lifetime, 55% of whom showed symptoms of PTSD, depression or anxiety. LAUSD recorded 7,661 suicidal ideation incident reports in the 2018-2019 school year.   

Time will tell how much damage has been wrought by a year of lost education, healthcare and outside contact and support. The pandemic of trauma caused by COVID-19 will be felt for years according to the National Education Association, which states “the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color has magnified the trauma of Black and Latinx students.”  

 “Teaching and learning can’t just pick up where educators and students left off,” the NEA observes. Trauma-informed policies and care are critical. ”Moving forward with grief or loss is better than just moving on.”  

Fighting substance use through awareness and peer education

Vaping is rampant among L.A. students. According to the CDC, more than 30% of L.A. County high school students have reported using e-cigarettes. 

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is working with partner Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and funder California Community Foundation to educate and prevent substance use  among Los Angeles Unified students.  

“This is one of our most urgent initiatives,” said Robert Renteria, program manager for The L.A. Trust. “Whether it’s vaping tobacco or using marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamine or opioids, substances are a real threat to our student community —one that’s likely to have grown during the pandemic.” 

The Wellness & Adolescent Substance Use Prevention Project (WASUP) substance use prevention partnership includes Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training and peer education by student health advocates from The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards.  

WASUP training for school-based healthcare professionals included a series of webinars discussing vaping and SBIRT. The  SBIRT project  — designed to increase the screening tool’s utilization in L.A. Unified Wellness Center clinics — was deployed at five such clinics, reaching nearly 2,700 students.  

Peer education  

 A toolkit for conducting a preliminary scan of the substance use situation at schools — Conducting a SBIRT Environmental Scan at Your School-Based Health Center — was published last year by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and The L.A. Trust.  

The toolkit “reflects lessons learned by The L.A. Trust and CHLA during a multiyear initiative to integrate SBIRT into five school-based health centers across South Los Angeles. Funding for this project was provided by the California Community Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.”   

WASUP includes student health advocates and Student Advisory Board members like former Manual Arts High School student Melissa Riaz Reynolds, who is now in college.   

She said her favorite part of being a WASUP advocate was “presenting to the leadership class about underage drinking and making safe decisions.  

“It helped a lot with my personal life as most students are curious and like to experiment, so I am constantly surrounded by drugs or people who abuse drugs,” she said. “The WASUP project taught me how to handle certain situations and protect myself and those around me.” 

Wellness Centers eagerly prepare for school re-openings

Dr. Kevin Fang of CHLA spoke about healthcare inequities at The L.A. Trust Learning Collaborative.

The word of the day was “hopeful” as L.A. Unified representatives, Wellness Center operators and staff from The L.A. Trust prepared for school re-openings at the fourth pandemic-period Wellness Network Learning Collaborative, March 10 on Zoom.

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, conducted a roll call of representatives from the 17 LAUSD Wellness Centers, noting The L.A. Trust has been hosting the collaboratives for more than a decade.

Health equals success

Guest speaker Dr. Kevin Fang addressed healthcare inequities, saying, “Zip Codes are better determinants of health outcomes than genetic codes.” Children of parents without a high school diploma are more likely to live in an environment with health barriers, Fang said, noting the direct correlation between education and life expectancy, income and smoking.

Fang said chronic absenteeism was a strong predictor of poor academic achievement. COVID-19 has exacerbated an already high chronic absenteeism rate among California public schools, he said, noting it has risen 89%. Proven solutions include school nurses and other forms of school-based health, physical education and individual education plans. Fang suggested ways to increase collaboration between schools and the medical community, including ACES (adverse childhood experiences) training for pediatricians and Wellness Center clinicians and in-class visits by doctors and medical students.

Fang is an attending physician and an assistant program director for the Pediatric Residency Program at CHLA. The former high school biology teacher is also Fellowship Director for the General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship in Health Equity and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at USC’s Keck School of Medicine.

Report card

Victor Luna, organization facilitator for LAUSD Student Health and Human Services,  provided a 2020 report card for the Wellness Network.

Visits to the Wellness Centers were down dramatically due the pandemic and facility closures. Visits varied widely — some clinics never closed and some remained closed for most of the year. Organization Facilitator Gloria Velasquez observed that 2020 was not a good year to determine trend lines in the network.

The two-hour collaborative concluded with a group discussion among the clinicians, educators, Student Advisory Board Adult Allies and The L.A. Trust staff. Topics included telehealth, getting students to make and keep medical appointments, and sexual and reproductive health services.

Appointments for STI prevention and birth control have been most impacted by the pandemic. Without outreach and the confidential setting of the school Wellness Center, students may be reluctant to reach out or use telehealth from home. LAUSD Organization Facilitator Ana Griffin said Wellness Centers and students were countering this through outreach campaigns. “We emphasize to students (who have sexual health questions) that the Wellness Center is a no-judgment zone.”

The L.A. Trust takes action in Children’s Dental Health Month

Los Angeles School Board Member Scott Schmerelson and The L.A. Trust’s Tooth Fairy  Maryjane Puffer brought brushes, toothpaste and healthcare info to Columbus Middle School February 10.

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health launched a public oral health awareness campaign and distributed 58,000 toothbrushes plus other oral care items in observance of National Children’s Dental Health Month in February.

“Poor oral health is the number one cause of school absenteeism – and it’s entirely preventable,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust. Screenings of 3,399 elementary school students in Los Angeles found that 66% of children had active dental disease, 27% had visible tooth decay and 6% required emergency care.

Puffer said The L.A. Trust is working closely with its partners in the oral health community, including L.A. Unified Student Health and Human Services, LAUSD’s Beyond the Bell division, UCLA’s More LA Smiles, the L.A. County Department of Public Health and other agencies, foundations and dental care providers. Puffer gave special thanks to Crest, which provided toothpaste to go with the thousand of brushes being distributed.

Prevention campaign

Los Angeles School Board member Scott Schmerelson took The L.A. Trust’s Brushing with Billy campaign direct to kids during an online Local District “Twinkle Time” February 3, using the puppet to show young students how to brush, floss and eat right.

“Improving the health and lives of all L.A Unified students and providing access to oral healthcare is a critical element to ensuring student achievement and success,” Schmerelson said. “As we celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month, we are grateful for our partnership with The L.A. Trust and will continue to support their oral health awareness initiative so our students can stay healthy and benefit from a wealth of resources.”

ORAL HEALTH RESOURCES FROM THE L.A. TRUST

The L.A. Trust is releasing three oral health videos on social media this month. The “Brushing with Billy” videos feature Program Manager Esther Yepez and the kid-friendly puppet. The spots, which focus on brushing, flossing and healthy eating, have been aired 150 times on KLCS-TV, reaching an estimated viewership of more than 1.1 million.

The L.A. Trust also facilitated the broadcast of UCLA More LA Smiles oral health TV spots starring Sesame Street characters, which will be shown on KLCS remote learning channels through February. 

“People don’t understand the disease process when it comes to cavities – it’s insidious,” said Dr. Jim Crall, project director of More LA Smiles. Simple changes in student behavior can make a big difference and education is key, he said.

“Prevention is key to oral health and that includes screenings and education,” Puffer said. “The pandemic has transformed our oral health education activities but not our commitment. We will continue to use every means at our disposal to ensure that kids and teens enjoy the best possible oral health during this pandemic.”

SHHS Organization Facilitator Gloria Velasquez noted that seven Wellness Centers and school-based health clinics are currently providing partial or full oral health services for students and community members: El Sereno Middle School (Western Dental); Hart Street Elementary School (Dr. Samoha); Jefferson Wellness Center (South Central Family Health Center); Maclay and Sun Valley Middle Schools (NEVHC); Monroe (Valley Community Health, appointment only); and Washington Prep Wellness Center (St. John’s Family and Wellness Center). Call ahead for an appointment.

New tool will help integrate schools and health centers

Dr. Kenny Ferenchak presented “School-Based Health Integration with Schools” at The L.A. Trust’s Learning Collaborative December 2. 

A new tool to measure the integration of school-based health centers with their schools was presented at The L.A. Trust’s Wellness Network Learning Collaborative December 2. More than 50 representatives from Los Angeles Unified, Wellness Center operators and The L.A. Trust attended the online event. 

“The L.A. Trust believes there’s a strong correlation between student health and student achievement, and school-based health centers are key,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, which helped support the research. 

“Integration of health centers with schools adds an extra element,” said Dr. Kenny Ferenchak, underscoring the fact that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Dr. Ferenchak, a former UCLA researcher and pediatric resident at Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Washington, notes that no measure currently exists to quantify the degree of integration for clinics and their partner schools.  

The presentation included remarks by Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz, a board member of The L.A. Trust and associate professor in general pediatrics and vice-chair of the Primary Care College at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. 

“Measuring school health integration can drive practice improvement initiatives among SBHC-school partners, identify SBHC and school characteristics that are associated with better integration, and test whether better integration is associated with better student health and academic outcomes,” they reported. 

Scanning the environment 

The Learning Collaborative included presentations by three organization facilitators with L.A. Unified Student Health and Human Services: Ana Griffin gave an update on Wellness Network performance; Gloria Velasquez conducted a whiteboard exercise on successes in outreach and services; and Victor Luna led a resiliency exercise.  

Robert Renteria, program manager of The L.A. Trust, and Erika Hernandez, project specialist for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, gave a presentation on Conducting an Environmental ScanPreparing for Implementation of Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) at Your School-Based Health Center. 

School-based health centers are encouraged to use the Environmental Scan to ensure they are providing accessible substance use prevention and treatment services. It reflects lessons learned by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and The L.A. Trust from a multi-year initiative to integrate SBIRT into five school-based health centers across South Los Angeles. Funding for the project was provided by the California Community Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

COVID testing key to L.A. Unified’s return-to-school strategy

L.A. Unified return-to-school plan encompasses testing and tracing for nearly 800,000 students and employees.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has begun an unprecedented coronavirus testing program, part of its developing return-to-school plan for nearly 800,000 students and employees 

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said, “Health practices are in place. Classrooms and facilities have been electrostatically cleaned top to bottom, air-conditioning systems have been upgraded with the equivalent of N-95 filters, personal protective equipment is provided to all individuals on campus, and classrooms and facilities have been reconfigured to keep all at a school a safer distance apart.  

“When students do return to schools, they’ll be kept in small cohorts to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. And as we learn of other ways to enhance health practices, we’ll incorporate them as quickly as possible.”

‘Taking the lead’ 

“Once again, LAUSD is taking the lead nationwide in protecting our students, teachers, staff and community members,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health. “It is essential that we open our schools as soon as it is safe to do so.” 

Beutner added, “While unprecedented, the virus testing, community engagement and contact-tracing program is necessary and appropriate as we must do everything we can to protect the health and safety of all in the school community.”  

Among those collaborating on the program are UCLA, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Health Net.

School-based health conference focuses on multiple threats

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond addressed nearly 1,000 registered guests at this year’s CSHA statewide School-Based Health Conference.  

Nearly 1,000 student health advocates addressed the multiple pandemics facing California’s kids, teens and communities at “School Health on the Frontlines: Navigating Pandemics & Building Equity,” the California School-Based Health Alliance’s first-ever virtual School-Based Health Conference October 6-8. 

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health and board vice president of CSHA, opened the conference by stating, “School-based health centers have always been on the frontlines of healthcare by serving students and communities with the most challenges and least access to our healthcare. This year has been a real test of that system.” 

She pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which “has brought families to the brink,” and to “the unending racial injustices faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color.” She said, “Our youth are resilient, but they are under incredible strain.”  

She noted that not one of the state’s one thousand local education entities has the recommended number of mental health professionals and only 4% of California school children have access to school–based health centers. 

“The ultimate equity issue” 

Dr. Tony Thurmond, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction said, “These are some of the toughest challenges we’ll see in our lifetimes.” He called “healthcare the ultimate equity issue” and said school-based health was “a top priority.”  

The opening keynote speaker was Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of The Education Trust–West, a research and advocacy organization focused on educational justice and supporting the high achievement of all California students. She said, “I want my son to say in the face of this epidemic that we stood by him. We must do much better, much faster. We must be co-conspirators for justice.” 

The closing keynote was given by Dr. Tichianaa Armah, medical director of Behavioral Health at the Community Health Center Inc., one of Connecticut’s top school-based health center providers, and assistant clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine. Armah outlined the impact of racism on the health and mental health of BIPOC students and communities. She shared compelling evidence of how stress of racial injustice has real health consequences, from stress and negative emotions to low-grade inflammation and chronic disease. 

The CSHA Convention included three days of sessions on topics ranging from sexual and reproductive health to school mental health. The L.A. Trust’s Program Manager Robert Renteria headed a panel on “Implementing SBIRT in SBHCs” and three staff members from The L.A. Trust served as room hosts. Sixty attendees registered for the conference as guests of The L.A. Trust. 

Student advocates prepare at The L.A. Trust Academy

Student advocates, shown here at The L.A. Trust’s Y2Y Conference in March, discussed how to conduct peer campaigns in the new school year on August 4-7.  

Two dozen Student Advisory Board members from five Los Angeles high schools met with staff members of The L.A. Trust for its first-ever Summer Academy learning session August 4-7, 2020. 

The students learned how to conduct peer-to-peer health campaigns, discussed ways to encourage visits to L.A. Unified Wellness Centers, and gained greater knowledge of healthcare disparities. The four-day pilot event was attended by SAB members from  Crenshaw, Jordan, Locke and Washington Prep, as well as students from John Marshall High School.  

The online Academy was facilitated by four staff members from The L.A. Trust: Robert Renteria, program manager; Eddie Hu, program manager; Mackenzie Scott, student engagement program coordinator; and Dannielle Griffin, student engagement program assistant.  

Organizational facilitators from L.A. Unified Student Health and Human Services helping to inform and guide the students included Gloria E. Velasquez, Victor Luna, Rene Bell-Harbour and Maggie Yu-DiPasquale. 

Impressed  

Renteria said he was impressed by the students’ commitment to the 20-hour learning program. Scott said the students were knowledgeable (“they could have presented my learning modules”) and engaged (“the chat was blowing up like crazy.”) 

Students discussed mental health, sexual and reproductive health, substance use prevention, public health, and their own career development. Wellness Center staff logged on to brief the students on updated hours and services and how to refer peers to the clinics. 

Students took a break from their learning to share their insights with The L.A. Trust Board of Directors at their annual retreat, August 6. Maryjane Puffer and Board members thanked the students for their frank accounts of how the pandemic is affecting them and their communities. 

The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards have met since August 18, the first week of L.A. Unified’s 2020-2021 school year. Renteria said, “Thanks to the Summer Academy, we have students ready to conduct campaigns about student and community health and to help increase awareness and use of the primary, mental and oral healthcare services offered by L.A. Unified’s student and family Wellness Centers.”

Student leaders and The L.A. Trust advocate for school-based health

Mayra Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, rallied more than 50 school-based health advocates at the CSHA’s first-ever virtual Advocacy Day. 

More than 50 school-based health advocates briefed 42 California lawmakers and their staffs August 5 during the California School-Based Health’s Alliance’s first-ever virtual Advocacy Day. 

Students from several of The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards joined staff members from The L.A. Trust, CSHA and other organizations at the legislative briefings, which focused on top policy priorities made more urgent by COVID-19. These priorities include healthcare and SBHC funding, student mental health, substance use prevention, and coordination by state departments (Education, Health Care Services and Public Health) to strengthen partnership with School-Based Health Centers. 

Mayra Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, rallied the online advocates. Noting that California is a national leader in health insurance coverage with 97 to 98% of all kids covered, “you all know it’s not enough to be covered.” She saluted those working on the frontlines of student health and said, “we have shared goals and a shared partnership.” 

A time of reckoning 

Alvarez tied the issue of health equity to the larger issue of race. “This is a reckoning — a racial reckoning,” she said. “It is truly wiser when we listen to those marching in the streets. Going back is accepting the status quo — we can pave a better path forward for California and the nation.” 

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust, stressed the importance of school-based health and thanked all the attendees for speaking out. Puffer and six other staff members from The L.A. Trust participated in the legislative briefings. 

Lisa Eisenberg, policy director for CSHA, noted that one-third of all California legislators were reached — five lawmakers attended in person. 

“While we really wanted to host in-person advocacy visits earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented those plans,” CSHA said. “As this pandemic has disproportionately impacted people served by school-based health centers, it’s more important than ever to share challenges and experiences with policymakers as schools grapple with a changing environment.”  

There are 277 school-based health centers in California, and 274,000 California students have access to high-quality healthcare through these clinics. There are 75 school-based health centers in Los Angeles County, including 16 LAUSD Wellness Centers supported by The L.A. Trust. 

Kaiser grants $500,000 to The L.A. Trust for new solutions

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health has announced a two-year, $500,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to provide healthcare programs, foster healthy habits and generate insights to improve student health in Los Angeles public schools.

A portion of the grant will underwrite an innovative new Data xChange initiative that will link healthcare and educational performance data to find ways to improve healthcare strategies and educational outcomes. 

“This major grant will not only help us deliver on our promise of improving the health of the LAUSD communities we serve, it will give us the insights we need to design programs and services that connect better healthcare to improved educational performance,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust.

Kaiser fully committed

Will Grice

“At Kaiser Permanente we are committed to helping everyone in our communities achieve total health,” said Will Grice, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.“That is why, through this grant, we’re proud to support The L.A. Trust in their efforts to increase access to oral health education, screenings and referrals for LAUSD students and their families, integrate healthy eating, active living programs into schools, and implement a system that measures the impact of health services on academic performance and attendance,” Grice said. “Together, we can work to reduce the disparity in access to quality health care in our communities.”

The mission of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is “to improve student health and increase readiness to learn through health care access, advocacy, and programs.” The independent 501c3 nonprofit organization supports 15 district-wide Wellness Centers and a variety of programs focused on preventative care, oral screenings and referrals, healthy living habits, mental health services and more. 

Wellness Center leaders collaborate on student health

School-based managers and clinicians from Los Angeles school-based Wellness Centers learned best practices for student health at The L.A. Trust for Children’s Health Fall Learning Collaborative, October 19, 2019, at LAUSD headquarters. The semi-annual event focused on innovative approaches to HPV prevention, contraception awareness, and other urgent student health issues.

The meeting featured a detailed update on The L.A. Trust’s new Data xChange, an initiative that will link real-world clinical data with student performance data to gain insights and find new ways to improve outcomes.

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust, said new insights are needed to drive student healthcare in Los Angeles to the next level.

The ambitious initiative has finished its initial phase (gathering clinical data) and laid the groundwork for Phase 2, linking clinical data to student performance data. Rigorous privacy protocols for the data have been established.

Wellness Center leaders poured over reports from their Wellness Centers, including stats on unique patient visits, services provided and demographics. Dr. Ron Tanimura, director of Student Medical Services for L.A. Unified, and Dr. Sang Leng Trieu of The L.A. Trust, led the discussion on Wellness Center metrics and discussed the history and future of the network.

Sexual health

Dr. Kathleen Tebb of the University of San Francisco released results from “Health-E You/Salud iTu,” a computer-based, patient–centered contraception awareness program focused on Latina youth. The awareness program, deployed in partnership with The L.A. Trust, resulted in a substantial increase in clinical visits and a 117% increase in the use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives among the target group. Version 2.0 of the program will switch genders and focus on young Latino males.

Heather Kun from the nonprofit “Fu*k Cancer,” unveiled the group’s HPV vaccination campaign, “Take Your Shot.” Kun noted than HPV causes 43,000 cancer deaths per year in the U.S., and all are preventable with the vaccine. The group is enrolling students to take the lead in an on-campus peer-to-peer campaign to get students vaccinated and save lives.

 Engaging students

 Two Wellness Center leaders shared how they involve students in their operations. Stephan Salazar, manager of adolescent education for Valley Community Healthcare, serving James Monroe High School in North Hills, discussed how his Student Advisory Board members intern at the clinic and provide advice for the operation and an informal support group for each other. Cassie Angus, Adult Ally at Fremont High School and program associate for its UMMA Community Clinic, also encourages student initiative, observing that “the best way to lead kids is to let kids lead themselves.”

The half-day conference included a briefing on school health integration by Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and an update on upcoming School Well-Being Centers presented by Frances Valdez and Gloria Velasquez, organization facilitators for Student Medical Services at Los Angeles Unified.