Public School Health Center Support Program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program to perform specified functions relating to the establishment, retention, or expansion of school health centers in California. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines a "school health center" to mean a center or program located at or near a local educational agency that provides age-appropriate health care services at the program site or through referrals, and may conduct routine physical health, mental health, and oral health assessments. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, to the extent funds are appropriated to the department, to establish a grant program to provide technical assistance, and funding for the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing school health centers, and the development of new school health centers, in accordance with specified procedures. Existing law requires the department to develop a request for proposal (RFP) process for collecting information on applicants, and determining which proposals shall receive grant funding, giving preference for grant funding to schools in areas designated as federally medically underserved areas or in areas with medically underserved populations, or schools with a high percentage of low-income and uninsured children and youth. This bill would require the department to also give preference to schools with a high percentage of children and youth who receive free or low-cost health coverage through Medi-Cal.