2017 Community Benefit Report CHAI_160088756_2018-11_2017 Community Benefit Repo | Page 20

2017 COMMUNITY BENEFIT REPORT
Our
advocacy
efforts
included:
68
State bills actively tracked
14
Committee hearings on
pending legislation at which healthcare
providers gave expert testimony
160
New advocates trained at our 6th annual
Speak Up for Kids Day at the Capitol
851
New members added to our Child
Health Champions advocacy network
5,691
Colorado advocates contacted
880
Constituents activated to email
state lawmakers
20
Advocating for Kids
in Colorado
350
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO
Hand-written postcards
urged state lawmakers to
support kids’ access to care
Healthier kids through public policy
Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Government Affairs team works with healthcare
providers, community-based organizations and other child health advocates to
keep kids out of the hospital by supporting laws that would improve child health —
and defending against those that would not.
“During the 2017 legislative session, Children’s Colorado partnered with allies across
the state, engaged team members and lifted up the voices of patients and families,”
says Zach Zaslow, director of government affairs at Children’s Colorado. “Together,
we championed policies that have the potential to advance child health in our state.”
Expanding access to healthcare professionals in schools
Investing in school health professionals can translate to improved graduation rates
and health outcomes for children in K-12 schools. By getting more school counselors,
nurses, psychologists and social workers into the setting where kids spend much of
their time, students see both academic and medical benefits from prompt access
to the support of a trusted healthcare professional for mental health and other
healthcare needs. Yet in Colorado, inadequate state funding can limit access to
these professionals in schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends one school nurse for every 750 general education students, but in
2016, Colorado had a ratio of one school nurse to 1,469 students. To address this,
Children’s Colorado supported legislation to expand the School Health Professional
and Counselor Corps grant programs into elementary schools. Additionally, we
successfully led a coalition in support of an additional $9 million investment of
marijuana tax cash funds into the School Health Professional Grant program so
that schools around the state could hire 150 more school health professionals to
implement evidence-based substance use and mental health programming.
Working to prevent lead poisoning in schools
In 2017, most Colorado school districts did not test for the presence of lead in
their water. Children’s Colorado partnered with environmental, educational
and public health groups on a bill that supports schools to do more testing. This
legislation gives schools the opportunity, without creating unfunded mandates,
to apply for grants to cover the cost of testing. Funding in a water quality program
already exists, and the new program enables schools to apply for a grant to test
for lead in their water. The grant prioritizes schools at the highest risk for lead
and for younger children who may be more susceptible to long-term harm from
lead exposure. As such, public elementary schools and older schools are given
precedence. If schools require remediation, there may be grant funds available
through the existing Building Excellent Schools Today program (BEST), which
supports school capital construction projects.
In 2017, Children’s Colorado’s Government Affairs
team also advocated on a range of other issues,
including immunizations, healthcare workforce,
injury prevention, tobacco control, mental
health, marijuana and substance use prevention,
early childhood and school discipline, state
budget, home visiting, access to care and more.
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