School Based Health Clinics – What Could Go Wrong?

School based Health Clinics (SBHC’s)  are either in/or near schools and tout that they “serve students first”. According to the MN Department of Health “currently, nine sponsoring agencies operate 29 SBHCs in Minnesota.” That sounds great, right?

“Young people aged 5 to 18 years, spend nearly six hours per day at school.” (MN Dept. of Health) Six hours of unfettered access to those children. But these providers would be liable if they did something contrary to the family’s beliefs, right? Well, no. MN law protects any person rendering these medical services to minors, even if the minor cannot consent, as long as they can show they “relied in good faith upon the representations of the minor”. (Minn. Stat. 144.345)  So if the child says he can consent, good enough!

There are numerous statutes that give minors the right to consent to medical treatments without their parents. For example, a Hepatitis B vaccine  (Minn. Stat. 144.3441.) Or emergency  “Medical, dental, mental and other health” services when the professional believes not providing them means a risk to the child’s health and that treatment could be denied or delayed. (Minn. Stat. 144.344)  Also, for  “medical, mental and other health services to determine the presence of or to treat pregnancy and conditions associated therewith, venereal disease, alcohol and other drug abuse, ….” (Minn. Stat. 144.343, Subd. 1)

But in order for those minors to consent and receive these treatments without their parents’ consent, they need to physically be in a clinic. That is tough when minors can’t drive or don’t have cars. How can these clinics get access to these minors, without needing parents to bring them? Enter School based Health Clinics.

In Minnesota “these clinics serve approximately 9,000 students with needed immunizations, vaccinations, …, mental health screening, ….” (MN Dept. of Health, emphasis added)  Who determines what is  needed? Is it students, providers, school employees, or parents? Curiously parents seem to be absent in this model.  Parents appear to be nothing more than a roadblock to be overcome.

The serious implications and dangers of these clinics in schools should frighten parents to the core. Children are required to be educated, and most families need their children to attend public schools. The same schools that will have clinics with access to your minor children. This is an unprecedented governmental intrusion into a family’s approach to health care, religious freedom, and culture. “SBHCs do not work alone in a school, they work as part of a … team … which  includes school nurses, social workers and counselors, school administration and other support staff.” (MN Dept. of Health)

If this is not enough to scare you, just know that the SBHCs are part of a larger CDC framework called the “The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, or WSCC model” That model is student-centered” (MN Dept. of Health)

The good news is the CDC is known for making excellent scientifically and evidence based recommendations, removed from any financial interests. And the CDC definitely cares more for children than parents do. Right?