DC Campaign welcomed 170 advocates at Taking the Pulse on School-Based Health Care, a roundtable on Wednesday, November 14, 2001, and hosted by the Academy for Educational Development.

School-based health centers should be an important source of medical care for low income and uninsured youth. “The health issues facing teens in the District of Columbia are complex and challenging,” says Brenda Rhodes Miller, executive director for DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

According to Dr. Allan Noonan, senior advisor in the Office of the Surgeon General and the keynote speaker, “A balanced community health system must include health promotion, disease prevention, early diagnosis, and universal access to quality care. School-based care from the kindergarten level to adolescence is an essential component of such a system.”

The roundtable consists of two panels, one made up of teens who will give a “report card” on school health and an adult panel of adolescent health advocates who will discuss the status of school-based health care. During lunch, James Wagoner, president, Advocates for Youth will addresses the importance of school-based health centers in providing comprehensive health care to adolescents.

DC Action for Children, Medical Society of the District of Columbia, Advocates for Youth, Academy for Educational Development, Washington Behavioral Health Care, and The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools have partnered with DC Campaign to address the issues of school-based health care.