Education & Public Health

The Clark County Public Health Department partnered with the Vancouver Public Schools to support high-risk youth in the City of Vancouver. This MOU was created to define the roles and responsibilities of the public health department and the school system in providing Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience (ACEs) education to school staff, administrators, and volunteers.

The Clark County Public Health Department serves as a convener, an advocate and a data expert to strengthen partnerships in Vancouver, Wash., including with the Vancouver Public School District.

“There are many causes of chronic absence, but one stands out: health. This brief will explore how healthcare and public health stakeholders can work, independently and in partnership with schools and school districts, to identify and address the health-related causes of chronic absenteeism.”

This brief summarizes the presentations given on June 14, 2018 at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Population Health Improvement titled School Success: An Opportunity for Population Health. “The workshop described the relationship between the health and education sectors and shared examples of public health interventions and activities in schools that support school success and are potential opportunities for population health action.”

“[LIIF] developed the Social Impact Calculator, a new tool that allows you to put a dollar value on the benefits of things like an affordable home, a great school or access to transit—as well as calculate a rate of social return.”

“Chronic absenteeism is a critical national problem that puts more than 6.5 million schoolchildren at risk for falling behind academically, dropping out of school and serious long-term health, employment and financial consequences. There is a growing movement among schools, states and the federal government to address the underlying causes of chronic absenteeism. This policy brief takes a close look at the reasons behind chronic absenteeism, its adverse impact on health and life outcomes, and potential solutions.”

“This guide is intended to highlight the ways that school needs assessments required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) can be a valuable tool in identifying, understanding and addressing health conditions that contribute to poor academic performance. It provides child advocates, community leaders, school personnel and other key stakeholder groups with the information that they need to convince their state and local education leaders to make health and wellness a significant component of the needs assessment and school improvement process.”

“Child Trends partnered with the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and EMT Associates, Inc. to review relevant state statutes and regulations enacted as of September 2017 and analyze their alignment with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model of healthy schools. Findings from this work are compiled in three products to help policymakers and advocates better understand the current landscape and consider the creation of policies that promote healthy schools.”

“The goal of this report is to help public health advocates and educators gain a high-level understanding of the early care and education (ECE) financing landscape and the pressures faced by providers and regulators. We specifically highlight healthy eating and physical activity (HEPA) standards linked to federal funding programs; the obesity prevention and childhood nutrition communities may find this information particularly useful.”

Rochelle Davis and Sarah Weisz write about how "building effective policy advocacy campaigns, creating programs that support sustainable systemic changes, and engaging parents to identify and advocate for critical issues are all key to supporting healthy schools and communities."