Funding Received for Assessment of Healthcare Needs of Public School Students in Garrett County

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

The Garrett County Health Department has received funding from the Maryland Department of Health Maternal and Child Health Bureau division of School-Based Health Centers to complete a needs assessment for Garrett County Public School students and their families. The assessment will help identify the healthcare needs that are not being met and what barriers are affecting these students and families.

The funding for this assessment resulted from the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations that ultimately resulted in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The Blueprint has many parts, but the portion that includes the needs assessment funding is related to the section that addresses resources beyond the required services for a child’s public-school experience. It is intended to ensure students can access all the assistance they need to succeed.

Blueprint Pillar Four is titled “More Resources for Students to be Successful.” The goal of this pillar is that children in need will “receive the additional services that they need to achieve success in school and overall health and well-being.” 

The Blueprint identified some examples that could be considered to meet these expectations, including: 

• safe transportation to and from school, 
• vision and dental services, 
• social workers, and mental health counselors for every child in need, 
• extended learning time, and 
• health and wellness services, all based at the school. 

These wraparound services, as they are known, are the reason why funding was provided to Garrett and Allegany Counties to cooperatively complete a needs assessment exploring what families and students in the community need to help them realize these successes. 

“Garrett County Public Schools are highly effective in ensuring the educational needs of the students are met,” said the Western Maryland School-Based Health Center Partnership team (WMSBHCP). “The newly required wraparound services will require a community effort to ensure that the students have access as described in the Blueprint because no one entity can be everything for all.”

The Garrett County Health Department, in cooperation with healthcare providers, community organizations, and our counterparts in Allegany County, is charged with completing this needs assessment. 

“We cannot do this alone,” said Heather Cooper, team member of the WMSBHCP, as well as NP and Director of Personal Health at Garrett County Health Department. “We need parent and student input, too. Those individuals who are best able to describe their needs would be the ones who need the services to reduce barriers, whether it’s being able to get healthcare, reduce concerns about transportation, reduce the possibility for lost wages and work time of parents, and reduce the loss of educational time for the children.”

“We are asking interested parents and students in grades 8 through 12 to complete an interest form using the link or QR code provided below,” said Jessica Carey, a WMSBHCP team member, as well as RN MSN in Personal Health at GCHD. “This link will take you to a form that asks for basic information such as name, phone number, email address, and availability for meetings. We will compile the responses and contact individuals to participate in the steering committee, which will ensure the needs assessment obtains information that accurately reflects the needs of students and families.”

The Western Maryland School-Based Health Center Partnership (WMSBHCP) Steering Committee will work as a team to identify exactly what information will be gathered, where and how the information will be provided, and from whom the information will be collected. This steering committee will approve a bid from solicitations from companies that gather and process this information non-biasedly. The company will present its findings to the Steering Committee upon completing the information gathering. 

At this point, the Steering Committee will review the results and, together with the company that conducted the assessment, identify solutions, and make recommendations to community leaders and Garrett County Public Schools to reduce or eliminate the gaps or barriers for public school students and families. Beyond that, the community leaders with Garrett County Public Schools will decide on the direction that they wish to proceed.

“We as a team thank the parents and students for their willingness to assist in identifying and addressing the wraparound needs of all public school students in the county,” said the WMSBHCP team.

Interested participants can follow this link, https://forms.gle/ij3BixcUZ8h694DU7, or use this QR code to complete the interest form. Please complete the form by February 2, 2024. Send any additional questions regarding the purpose of the needs assessment or of the steering committee participation to the WMSBHCP at [email protected].