Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110
§280h–5 School-based Health Centers
Title 42 › CHAPTER 6A — PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER II — GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES › Part Q — Programs To Improve the Health of Children › § 280h–5
Summary
Provides grants to run school-based health centers that give kids basic medical care and mental health and substance use services. These centers must offer physical health checkups and treatment for minor and chronic problems, plus mental health screening, counseling, crisis care, and referrals. They must follow state and federal laws, get parental consent when required, and may not provide abortion services. “Medically underserved children and adolescents” means youngsters who live in areas officially designated as lacking enough health care. To get a grant, a center must meet the program’s definition, show local need, and promise to work with schools and local providers, provide on-site care during the school day with year-round on-call backup, protect student privacy (including HIPAA and student-record rules), and have a sponsoring facility responsible for operations. The Secretary can favor applicants serving areas with barriers to care or many uninsured kids, and can waive some rules for up to 2 years or for good cause. Grant money can buy equipment, pay staff and training, run the center, and help expand buildings, but cannot pay for abortions. A recipient must match 20 percent of the grant from nonfederal sources unless the Secretary waives that for hardship. Grants must add to, not replace, other public funds. The Secretary will monitor and evaluate centers, fund nonprofit groups to give technical help, and may make whatever appropriations are needed for fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §280h–5
The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Definitions; establishment of criteria
In this section: (1) Comprehensive primary health services
(2)Medically underserved children and adolescents
(A)In general
The term “medically underserved children and adolescents” means a population of children and adolescents who are residents of an area designated as a medically underserved area or a health professional shortage area by the Secretary.
(B)Criteria
The Secretary shall prescribe criteria for determining the specific shortages of personal health services for medically underserved children and adolescents under subparagraph (A) that shall—
(i)take into account any comments received by the Secretary from the chief executive officer of a State and local officials in a State; and
(ii)include factors indicative of the health status of such children and adolescents of an area, including the ability of the residents of such area to pay for health services, the accessibility of such services, the availability of health professionals to such children and adolescents, and other factors as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(3)School-based health center
The term “school-based health center” means a health clinic that—
(A)meets the definition of a school-based health center under section 1397jj(c)(9)(A) of this title and is administered by a sponsoring facility (as defined in section 1397jj(c)(9)(B) of this title);
(B)provides, at a minimum, comprehensive primary health services during school hours to children and adolescents by health professionals in accordance with established standards, community practice, reporting laws, and other State laws, including parental consent and notification laws that are not inconsistent with Federal law; and
(C)does not perform abortion services.
(b)Authority to award grants
The Secretary shall award grants for the costs of the operation of school-based health centers (referred to in this section as “SBHCs”) that meet the requirements of this section.
(c)Applications
To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an entity shall—
(1)be an SBHC (as defined in subsection (a)(3)); and
(2)submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing—
(A)evidence that the applicant meets all criteria necessary to be designated an SBHC;
(B)evidence of local need for the services to be provided by the SBHC;
(C)an assurance that—
(i)SBHC services will be provided to those children and adolescents for whom parental or guardian consent has been obtained in cooperation with Federal, State, and local laws governing health care service provision to children and adolescents;
(ii)the SBHC has made and will continue to make every reasonable effort to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with other health care providers in the catchment area of the SBHC;
(iii)the SBHC will provide on-site access during the academic day when school is in session and 24-hour coverage through an on-call system and through its backup health providers to ensure access to services on a year-round basis when the school or the SBHC is closed;
(iv)the SBHC will be integrated into the school environment and will coordinate health services with school personnel, such as administrators, teachers, nurses, counselors, and support personnel, as well as with other community providers co-located at the school;
(v)the SBHC sponsoring facility assumes all responsibility for the SBHC administration, operations, and oversight; and
(vi)the SBHC will comply with Federal, State, and local laws concerning patient privacy and student records, including regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and section 1232g of title 20; and
(D)such other information as the Secretary may require.
(d)Preferences and consideration
In reviewing applications:
(1)The Secretary may give preference to applicants who demonstrate an ability to serve the following:
(A)Communities that have evidenced barriers to primary health care and mental health and substance use disorder prevention services for children and adolescents.
(B)Communities with high per capita numbers of children and adolescents who are uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in public health insurance programs.
(C)Populations of children and adolescents that have historically demonstrated difficulty in accessing health and mental health and substance use disorder prevention services.
(2)The Secretary may give consideration to whether an applicant has received a grant under section 280h–4 of this title.
(e)Waiver of requirements
The Secretary may—
(1)under appropriate circumstances, waive the application of all or part of the requirements of this subsection with respect to an SBHC for not to exceed 2 years; and
(2)upon a showing of good cause, waive the requirement that the SBHC provide all required comprehensive primary health services for a designated period of time to be determined by the Secretary.
(f)Use of funds
(1)Funds
Funds awarded under a grant under this section— (A)
(B)may not be used to provide abortions.
(2)Construction
The Secretary may award grants which may be used to pay the costs associated with expanding and modernizing existing buildings for use as an SBHC, including the purchase of trailers or manufactured buildings to install on the school property.
(3)Limitations
(A)In general
Any provider of services that is determined by a State to be in violation of a State law described in subsection (a)(3)(B) with respect to activities carried out at a SBHC shall not be eligible to receive additional funding under this section.
(B)No overlapping grant period
No entity that has received funding under section 254b of this title for a grant period shall be eligible for a grant under this section for with respect to 1 the same grant period.
(g)Matching requirement
(1)In general
Each eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of the grant (which may be provided in cash or in-kind) to carry out the activities supported by the grant.
(2)Waiver
The Secretary may waive all or part of the matching requirement described in paragraph (1) for any fiscal year for the SBHC if the Secretary determines that applying the matching requirement to the SBHC would result in serious hardship or an inability to carry out the purposes of this section.
(h)Supplement, not supplant
Grant funds provided under this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal or State funds.
(i)Evaluation
The Secretary shall develop and implement a plan for evaluating SBHCs and monitoring quality performance under the awards made under this section.
(j)Age appropriate services
An eligible entity receiving funds under this section shall only provide age appropriate services through a 1 SBHC funded under this section to an individual.
(k)Parental consent
An eligible entity receiving funds under this section shall not provide services through a 1 SBHC funded under this section to an individual without the consent of the parent or guardian of such individual if such individual is considered a minor under applicable State law.
(l)Technical assistance
The Secretary shall provide technical assistance by grants or contracts awarded to private, nonprofit entities with demonstrated expertise related to school-based health centers. Such technical assistance, taking into account local and regional differences among school based 1 health centers, shall support such entities in providing services described in subsection (a)(1) pursuant to this section, including mental health and substance use disorder services, and may include technical assistance relating to program operations and support for the implementation of evidence-based or evidence-informed best practices related to the provision of high quality health care services to children and adolescents.
(m)Authorization of appropriations
For purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, referred to in subsec. (c)(2)(C)(vi), is Pub. L. 104–191, Aug. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 1936. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
of 1996
Amendments
note set out under section 201 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2022—Subsecs. (l), (m). Pub. L. 117–328 added subsec. (l) and redesignated former subsec. (l) as (m). 2020—Subsec. (l). Pub. L. 116–260 substituted “2022 through 2026” for “2010 through 2014”. 2010—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 111–148, § 10402(a), inserted “and vision” after “oral”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 280h–5
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110