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cuts hurt kids

“Don’t balance your budget on our children’s backs,” say parents, caregivers

Community Coalition Launches “Cuts Hurt Kids” Campaign to Save Bridgeport School-Based Health Clinics

 
  • “Don’t balance your budget on our children’s backs,” say parents, caregivers

  • Clinics are sole source of primary health care for many of city’s schoolchildren
 bridgeport crowd


Bridgeport, CT – Alarmed and outraged by budget cuts that would decimate health care for Bridgeport’s most vulnerable schoolchildren, a new coalition consisting of kids, Bridgeport, parents, educators, clergy, elected officials and health care workers kicked off a community campaign today, vowing to fight layoffs proposed by Bridgeport’s freshman Mayor, Bill Finch.

“School-based health clinics provide access to primary health care for the neediest of our children and adolescents,” said Migdalia Muniz, a Bridgeport resident and school nurse. “It’s not only aspirin and Band-Aids we’re providing. We are the first – and often the only – line of health care for serious chronic diseases like asthma, juvenile diabetes and ADHD. These short-sighted and mean-spirited budget cuts will put our children’s health at serious risk.”

Muniz was one of dozens of school nurses, social workers and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) who joined Bridgeport schoolchildren, parents and community organizations like ACORN and the Working Families Party, to announce the “Cuts Hurt Kids” campaign on the steps of City Hall today.

Organizers of the campaign plan to educate and inform city residents of the many ways in which proposed layoffs and budget cuts threaten the health and education of Bridgeport children and adolescents. The campaign will leaflet city schools, go door-to-door in city districts and has already begun a city-wide petition to rescind the layoffs and preserve vital healthcare services.

Those services include vital mental health and counseling care which is particularly important for at-risk adolescents. Social workers in the school-based clinics provide both prevention and treatment for teenage pregnancies, alcohol and drug issues, eating disorders, suicide risks and sexual violence, among other behavioral health challenges, MSW Robin Gredinger said, “Our centers are the major source of care for our adolescent and young adult population. They rarely seek primary preventative care through their primary provider, if they even have one, but wind up in the ER for care. Racial and ethnic minority adolescents are a large group of the uninsured in our country. School-based clinics like ours are the best guarantee of mental health care for both impoverished adolescents and their families. Is Bridgeport’s city leadership ready to abandon them now?”

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) like Jill Monda monitor and administer insulin, provide bolus and tube-feedings to children with disabilities, and can diagnose and treat a wide range of common childhood and adolescent illnesses without having to send children home, forcing parents to suddenly leave work. “School based health centers provide primary, preventative and acute care in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Research shows that a child seen for asthma at one of our clinics averages $22 for the visit, compared to $350 if that same child has to visit a hospital emergency room instead. Are we going to throw away our kids and their future to save a few dollars now that will eventually cost us ten times more? What are our city leaders thinking?”

Background on the Bridgeport budget battle:

Members of District 1199, SEIU Healthcare provide primary, preventative, and acute health care to Bridgeport schoolchildren and adolescents at seven school-based health centers (SBHCs) serving 33 schools in the city. They include 44 School Nurses and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and 10 MSW (Masters of Social Work) clinicians, all employees of the Bridgeport Board of Education.

The nine Bridgeport School-Based Health Centers are:
Columbus Elementary (PK-6)
Dunbar Elementary (K-8)
Read Elementary (K-8)
Roosevelt Elementary (PK-8)
Blackham Elementary (PK-8)
JFK Campus Elementary/ Middle
Bassick High (9-12)
Central High (9-12)
Harding High (6-12)

The text of the petition being circulated city-wide reads as follows:

Mayor Finch:

We the residents of the City of Bridgeport are opposed to the budget cuts affecting health care. These proposed cuts will eliminate over 19 Public Health Nurses, Preventative Disease Nurses, Dental Hygienists and Clinicians. This is an unacceptable way to balance the budget at the expense of our children’s health care and safety in the schools.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health website describes SBHCs this way:

School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are comprehensive primary health care facilities located within or on the grounds of schools. SBHCs are licensed as outpatient facilities or hospital satellite clinics and offer services that address the medical, mental and oral health needs of students in grades pre-K through 12.

SBHCs are staffed by multidisciplinary teams of professionals who have special expertise in the care of children and/or adolescents. These services include crisis intervention, health care, social services and outreach.

Primary preventive health and mental health services are provided at all locations. Some SBHCs also offer dental services. SBHC services are aimed at, but not limited to, students who do not have access to a family doctor, or whose families have little or no health insurance. Type and extent of the services provided vary.

SBHC Services

The wide range of services that may be accessed through SBHCs includes:
  • Routine Checkups/Physical Exams
  • Health Education
  • Immunizations
  • Referral & Follow-up for Specialty Care
  • Laboratory Testing
  • Reproductive Health Care
  • Diagnosis & Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • Mental Health Services
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Individual, Family & Group Counseling
  • Prescription & Dispensing of Medications
  • Treatment of Acute Injuries and Illnesses
  • Nutrition Counseling & Weight Management
  • Dental Care (selected sites only)

Coverage from the Connecticut Post