Special educational needs coordinators

Although special education services are certainly warranted and valuable for many children with special health care needs, school-based health centers (sbhcs) offer another mechanism to address the needs of these students. As mentioned, SBHCS now number over 1200 in the United States and have expanded to include a range of preventive, primary care, and mental health services. A common staffing pattern for an sbhc would include a medical assistant, nurse coordinator (often an rn), nurse practitioner or physician assistant, a mental health professional (usually master s-level or doctoral trainee), and a consulting physician. Some centers have additional staff, including health educators, outreach workers, and dentists (Juszcak et al., 1995). 

Evaluation activities of the ss-hs project in Baltimore have also helped schools and, in particular, student support teams (sst) identify their students needs. In order to help facilitate decision-making surrounding services for children, the bcpss recently required SSTS to exist within each school. The bcpss hopes that the ssts will coordinate all referrals for special services (except special education services, which existing child study teams handle) within a school. The sst consists of administrators, mental health professionals, teachers, and other school staff. School... 

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