Kerri McGowan Lowrey

Education has emerged as a social determinant of health in its own right. More highly educated individuals are healthier and tend to live longer; they also are at less risk of smoking, drug abuse, accidents and chronic diseases. Despite federal laws that guarantee all children a free appropriate public education, major inequities exist.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia prohibit the operation of a boat while intoxicated. This resource provides a compilation of state BUI laws and provisions.

School nurses collect and are responsible for a vast amount of personal information related to students and their health. This resource is designed to help school nurses understand what information they can share, when, and with whom in accordance with federal privacy laws.

This fact sheet provides examples of ways that states have chosen to address Medicaid billing for school nursing, highlighting the need for states to consider expanding Medicaid coverage for school nursing services by amending state laws.

Concern over immigration enforcement can prevent immigrants from obtaining needed health care. Many immigrants worry that health workers will share their undocumented status with immigration authorities. Removing barriers to immigrants’ utilization of preventative and other health care services is important for public health. This issue brief explores relevant federal and state health privacy laws and how they apply to undocumented immigrants and provides information on health care providers’ rights and responsibilities when providing health care to immigrants.

One in five child passenger fatalities in the U.S. involve an impaired driver, most commonly the child’s own driver. Forty-six states and D.C. have child endangerment statutes that impose special sanctions for driving under the influence while transporting a child. Despite the widespread use of such laws, studies of their effectiveness suggest they may not be effective in preventing alcohol-related child fatalities in motor vehicle crashes, primarily due to low public awareness and lax enforcement.

The high cost of health care and the increasing decline in health insurance coverage are a concern for all people living in America. But for immigrants, who have extremely low rates of insurance coverage compared to U.S.-born populations, the situation is even more precarious. Low incomes, lack of insurance, concern over immigration enforcement, and other barriers pose serious threats to immigrant health. That, in turn, poses a risk to the broader public health. Federal and state laws impact immigrants’ access to care and, therefore, public health. Attend this webinar to examine a few of the laws and policies that create barriers to immigrants’ access to care.

This resource summarizes laws in each state and the District of Columbia that recognize same-sex relationships, deny protections to same-sex couples, and other factors.

This resource contains information on U.S. protections for victims of domestic violence in same-sex relationships.

School nurses can play a critical role in advancing child and adolescent health — including expanding access to care for many children. However, laws across the country do not yet recognize the importance of school nurses, and only one state requires a full-time registered nurse in every school.

Among the most pressing public health issues of 2018, access to healthcare, electronic nicotine delivery systems, injury prevention, and food insecurity saw significant legislation and policy impacts. In this webinar, subject matter experts will recap how four important public health initiatives—expansion of scope of practice; regulation of electronic nicotine delivery systems; traumatic brain injury prevention; and food insecurity and SNAP—were impacted in 2018.

This report examines how school health providers, who work at the intersection of health and education, can play a critical role in reducing chronic absence.