State Policy

School-based health centers (SBHCs) provide a vital piece of the nation’s health care safety net. The growth of SBHCs has been driven by financial support and policy at the state level, not federal policy or funding. The number of SBHCs have increased from a few dozen in the 1980s to approximately 2,000 today. The growth has been remarkable. Despite a history that stretches back to the 1970s, SBHCs were defined in federal law for the first time in 2009 through the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2009.

There is little uniformity in the ways that state policies are used to support SBHCs. Instead, states have blended various ingredients to support school-based health care within their borders.

State School-Based Health Center Standards

Most states that provide state funding for school-based health centers have developed school-based health care standards.

Similar to NASBHC’s principles, state standards provide detailed requirements that school-based and/or school-connected health centers must meet in order to receive state funding for their programs. To view examples of current state school-based health care standards, click on the links below:

Colorado	Illinois	Maine	New Mexico	Oregon
Connecticut	Louisiana	Massachusetts	New York	Texas
Delaware	Maryland	Michigan	North Carolina	Washington, DC

Please email info@nasbhc.org if your state standards are not listed or if they need to be updated.