Adolescent and Child Health
The Bureau of Child Health, within the Division of Family Health, provides programs for children and youth ages birth to 21. Programs include, but are not limited to, medical and dental school-based health centers, a school-based dental home program, pediatric mental health care access, drinking water fluoridation, children and youth with special health care needs, and sickle cell disease health care transition.
- School Based Health Centers: Thousands of school age children in New York State have limited access to comprehensive health services because of financial, geographical and other barriers to care. School-based health centers (SBHCs) can improve access to primary care for underserved children and youth. SBHCs bring comprehensive primary care services to the place where children and youth are during the day and address critical health problems that make it difficult for students to learn.
- Special Health Care Needs: The Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Program seeks to improve the system of care for children and youth with special health care needs from birth and up to 21 years of age and their families. The Program helps to shape public policy so families can get the best health care for their children.
- Sickle Cell Program: The New York State Department of Health seeks to improve health outcomes for adolescents and young adults ages 12-21 with sickle cell disease as they transition from pediatric to adult health care and strive to achieve self-care.
The adolescent health unit expands primary prevention efforts aimed at decreasing the incidence of adolescent pregnancy, reducing the risk of initial and repeat pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDS rates among adolescents, and to more effectively address racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities that are related to adolescent health outcomes. Currently this is done though the implementation of the Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (CAPP) the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education program (SRAE).
- New York State Adolescent Health Initiatives: ACT for Youth receives funding from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to build capacity in community-based health initiatives that serve adolescents and young adults.
