www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008 -
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Published on: 10/9/2008
Last Visited: 10/9/2008
However, agencies are looking more at coordinated health and social services offerings, partially in response to concerns raised by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other nonprofits that study health and wellness, said Scott Hughes, director of Alliance for Education.
The Shreveport organization is working with nine northwest Louisiana parishes to create coordinated health programs in schools.
The thinking behind coordinated health programs appearing in school systems focuses on taking care of a child's basic needs before expecting the child to learn.
But getting to agencies that provide those services can be almost impossible for families without transportation.Some see half of their appointments cancelled, because families just can't get to an agency, Hughes said.
"If you could take many of the same state resources and put them where clients are — in the case of coordinated health, the schools — you would have 100 percent (appointment) fill rates," Hughes said.