Contact Information
Jeanee Weiss 
Director of Healthy Futures, Building Bright Futures
1004 Farnam Street, Suite 102
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 715-4160
j.weiss@buildingbrightfutures.net 

 
School-Based Health Centers

Within Building Bright Futures’ targeted area of Douglas and Sarpy county exists an enormous health care disparity.  In our most underserved communities, it is approximated that half of our children do not have a regular health care provider; therefore, their families rely heavily on the city’s emergency rooms. Unfortunately, within the Omaha community it is not uncommon for families to face barriers to accessible health care.  When faced with such barriers, our children suffer from a lack of continuity of care, poor attendance in school as health-related conditions interfere with academic success, and undiagnosed and mistreated illnesses interfere with the formation of healthy relationships and engagement in school.

The School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) provide on-site care for acute and chronic illnesses of school-aged children.  Partnerships are created between the school and community health providers to promote the health and educational success of children and adolescents.  The School-Based Health Centers staff will work in collaboration with the school nurse and families to;

• Improve access to health care services
• Promote prevention and early intervention
• Establish a medical home and primary care physician
• Provide education to students and parents

Today’s system is intimidating and complicated.  Through education and support from the School Based Health Center staff, we hope to move more of our students into Medicaid and Kids Connection, while fostering a relationship with a primary health provider in their community.  It is through this organized and efficient delivery of care through the School-Based Health Centers that we hope to improve our students’ health, attendance, and learning.

Click here to visit the SBHC website.

Health Literacy 

Through a partnership formed between Building Bright Futures and Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, we are working to provide quality K-12 health education curriculum resources to school districts throughout the Douglas and Sarpy counties to help improve the health literacy of our students.  Building Bright Futures promotes health literacy programs that delineate knowledge and skill expectations that are consistent with the National Health Education Standards for each grade level and addresses the top six health risk behaviors identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

While directly impacting the health behaviors of our youth through improved health literacy, Building Bright Futures is also engaging the school districts of its targeted area to consider the health of the whole child by implementing the CDC’s Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) model.  The CSHP is a planned and organized set of health-related programs, policies, and services coordinated to meet the health and safety needs of PreK-12 students both at the school district and individual school building levels.  Following the lead of the CDC, Building Bright Futures has enhanced the CSH model to better meet the needs of our community for years to come and to address the need for prepared health professionals and advocates.  The Building Bright Future’s proposed CSH model includes nine components:

For a complete explanation of Coordinated School Health, click here.

Additional Resources