Addressing the health needs of students in poverty in Los Angeles County, CA

Poor children have lower rates of health insurance and higher rates of food insecurity than children in higher-income households. AASA, the School Superintendents Association, works with three high-poverty districts in Los Angeles County (Inglewood Unified School District, El Monte Union High School District, and Mountain View School District) with a focus on health insurance coverage and/or school breakfast participation for improved academic outcomes. Los Angeles County ranks lower than the state average on child poverty, the uninsured rate, and childhood food insecurity.

Ninety percent of students in Inglewood Unified School District receive free or reduced-price meals. To address the problem of hunger, the district makes all meals free to all students. Through funding provided by AASA and the Walmart Foundation, IUSD serves breakfast in classrooms and hallways, reducing the stigma of cafeteria breakfast. Through these measures, breakfast participation increased from 14% in April 2013 (baseline) to 84.4% in January 2014.

Sister districts Mountain View K-8 School District and El Monte Union High School District serve a total of 17,700 students. The superintendents of these two districts work together and with partners on health insurance outreach: both districts added the question “Does your child have health insurance?” to the required school registration forms. Providing families with Medicaid and CHIP information by community partners after receiving a “no” or “unsure” response, families of 3563 now have access to health insurance.

This session will highlight the work of these districts and discuss the importance of addressing health to improve academic achievement.