ORS 413.223: School-based health centers; certification; best practices; rules.

The division of the Oregon Health Authority that is charged with public health functions: (1) Shall develop and continuously refine a system of care that: (a) Meets the developmental needs of adolescents; (b) Promotes evidence-based practices for children; and (c) Prioritizes public health through activities such as: (A) Establishing certification and performance standards; (B) Collecting and analyzing clinical data; (C) Conducting ongoing assessments and special studies; and (D) Defining a statewide planning and development process. (2) Shall adopt by rule the procedures and criteria for the certification, suspension and decertification of school-based health centers. The procedures must allow certified school-based health centers a reasonable period of time to cure any defects in compliance prior to the suspension or decertification of the school-based health center. (3) Shall convene work groups to recommend best practices for school-based health centers with respect to electronic health records, billing, joint purchasing, business models and patient centered primary care home identification. (4)(a) May, in addition to the duties described in subsection (1) of this section, enter into contracts with entities for the purpose of providing assistance to school-based health centers that receive grant moneys under ORS 413.225. (b) A contract entered into under this subsection must require the entity to: (A) Provide technical assistance and community-specific ongoing training to school-based health centers, school districts and education service districts; (B) Assist school-based health centers in improving business practices, including practices related to billing and efficiencies; (C) Assist school-based health centers in expanding their relationships with coordinated care organizations, sponsors of medical care for school-age children and other community-based providers of school-based health and mental health services; and (D) Facilitate the integration of health and education policies and programs at the local level so that school-based health centers operate in an optimal environment. [2013 c.683 §1; 2019 c.536 §2; 2025 c.624 §42] Sec. 1. (1) The Oregon Health Authority, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall select 10 school districts or education service districts to receive planning grants for district planning and technical assistance. Each district receiving a grant, beginning on or after July 1, 2019, and concluding before July 1, 2021, shall: (a) Evaluate the need for school-based health services in their respective communities; and (b) Develop a plan that addresses the need identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection by drafting a proposal for a school-based health center as defined in ORS 413.225 or by designing a pilot program as described in subsection (5)(b) of this section to test an alternative approach to providing school-based health services. (2) Each grantee shall consult with a nonprofit organization with experience in organizing community projects, or a local organization that coordinates with a statewide nonprofit organization, to facilitate the planning process and to provide technical assistance. (3) Each grantee shall solicit community participation in the planning process, including the participation of the local public health authority, any federally qualified health centers located in the district, a regional health equity coalition, if any, serving the district and every coordinated care organization with members residing in the district. (4) The Oregon Health Authority may contract with a statewide nonprofit organization with experience in supporting school-based health centers to create tools and provide support to grantees during the community engagement and planning process. (5) At the conclusion of the two-year planning process, the authority shall select up to 10 entities in respective grantee school districts or education service districts to receive operating funds to either: (a) Open a state-certified school-based health center, based on a school-based health center funding formula; or (b) Pilot, for a five-year period, an approach to providing school-based health services as an alternative model to the school-based health center model. The alternative approach pilot programs may be designed to focus services on a specific community need, such as a need for mental health services, school nursing services, dental services, primary care or trauma-informed services, and may: (A) Involve a partnership with a coordinated care organization, a federally qualified health center, a local public health authority or another major medical sponsor; and (B) Identify a process for billing insurance, medical assistance or another third-party payer, or identify other funding, for the cost of services. (6) By the end of the fourth year of the five-year period described in subsection (5)(b) of this section: (a) Each school district or education service district piloting an alternative approach to providing school-based health services either commits to establish a school-based health center or proposes an alternative model to the authority and the Legislative Assembly. (b) The authority may use the data collected and the recommendations of the school districts to adopt rules establishing flexible, outcome-based criteria for certification of the alternative approaches developed and implemented by the grantees piloting alternative models under subsection (5)(b) of this section. (7) As used in this section, “regional health equity coalition” means a coalition that: (a) Is independent of coordinated care organizations and government agencies, community-led, cross-sector and focused on addressing rural and urban health inequities for communities of color, Oregon’s federally recognized Indian tribes, immigrants, refugees, migrant and seasonal farm workers, low-income populations, persons with disabilities and persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning, with communities of color as the priority; (b) May include as member organizations a federally recognized Indian tribe, a culturally specific organization, a social service provider, a health care organization, a public health research organization, a behavioral health organization, a private foundation or a faith-based organization; (c) Develops governance structures that include members of communities impacted by health inequities; (d) Has a decision-making body on which more than half of the persons are self-identified persons of color and more than half of the persons experience health inequities; (e) Prioritizes selection of organizational representatives who are self-identified persons of color or have a role related to health equity; (f) Operates on a model that honors community wisdom by promoting solutions that build on community strengths and recognizes the impact of structural, institutional and interpersonal racism on the health and well-being of communities of color; and (g) Focuses on: (A) Meaningful community engagement; (B) Coalition building, developing a governance structure for the coalition and creating operating systems for the daily and long term functioning of the coalition led by individuals with demonstrated leadership and expertise in promoting and improving health equity; (C) Building capacity and leadership among coalition members, staff and decision-making bodies to address health equity and the social determinants of health; and (D) Developing and advocating for policy, system and environmental changes to improve health equity in this state. [2019 c.601 §1; 2021 c.191 §18] Sec. 5. Section 1, chapter 601, Oregon Laws 2019, is repealed on January 2, 2028. [2019 c.601 §5; 2021 c.619 §4] Sec. 1. (1) As used in this section: (a) “School-based health center” has the meaning given that term in ORS 413.225. (b) “School nurse model” means a model for providing school-based health services that is in accord with guidance from the division of the Oregon Health Authority that addresses adolescent health. (2) The authority, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall select up to 10 school districts or education service districts to receive planning grants for district planning and technical assistance. Each district receiving a grant, beginning on or after July 1, 2021, and concluding before July 1, 2023, shall: (a) Evaluate the need for school-based health services in their respective communities; and (b) Develop a school-based health services plan that addresses the need identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection. (3) The authority shall contract with a nonprofit organization with experience in facilitating school health planning initiatives and supporting school-based health centers to facilitate and oversee the planning process and to provide technical assistance to grantees to reduce costs and ensure better coordination and continuity statewide. To the greatest extent practicable, the nonprofit organization shall engage with culturally specific organizations, in the grantees’ communities, that have experience providing culturally and linguistically specific services in schools or after-school programs. (4) Each grantee shall solicit community participation in the planning process, including the participation of the local public health authority, any federally qualified health centers located in the district, a regional health equity coalition, if any, serving the district and every coordinated care organization with members residing in the district. (5) At the conclusion of the two-year planning process each grantee shall receive funding to operate a school-based health center or school nurse model in each respective grantee school district or education service district. [2021 c.619 §1; 2022 c.45 §20] Sec. 2. (1) As used in this section, “mobile school-linked health center” means a mobile medical van that: (a) Provides primary care services, and may provide other services, to children on or near school grounds by licensed or certified health care providers; and (b) Is sponsored by a school district or an education service district. (2) The Oregon Health Authority shall develop grant requirements and ongoing operations criteria for mobile school-linked health centers and may award up to four grants to school districts or education service districts for planning, technical assistance and operations to implement a mobile school-linked health center. (3) A mobile school-linked health center operated using grants provided under this section shall comply with the billing, electronic medical records and data reporting requirements established for grantees under section 1 (5), chapter 601, Oregon Laws 2019, but is not subject to the school-based certification requirements or funding formulas established for school-based health centers under ORS 413.225. [2021 c.619 §2; 2022 c.45 §21] Sec. 6. (1) Sections 1 and 2 of this 2021 Act are repealed on January 2, 2028. [2021 c.619 §6(1)]