The San Francisco Wellness Initiative…
is a collaborative effort to improve the health, well-being and educational outcomes of San Francisco’s high school students by increasing their access to comprehensive prevention and early intervention health services.
The mission of the San Francisco Wellness Initiative is to improve the health, well-being, and educational outcomes of San Francisco’s high school students by providing comprehensive, school based student health programming focused on prevention and early intervention in areas critical to student wellness such as:
- Reproductive health, pregnancy prevention and healthy relationships
- Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs
- Depression, stress, anxiety, suicidal ideation, exposure to trauma, and other
mental health concerns - Family and peer relationship challenges, cultural expectations, immigration
concerns, sexual/gender identity exploration and other common issues of
adolescence - Asthma, diabetes, nutrition, eating disorders and other physical health issues
Serving 15 of San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) high schools, Wellness Programs are staffed by a trained program coordinator, health outreach worker, school nurse and one or more behavioral health counselors. Each Wellness Program also partners with several community based organizations (CBOs) to provide groups and further services.
With over 7,000 students (45% of the student population across the 15 school sites) accessing Wellness Program services annually, the programs have evidenced impact on student well-being and connections to school.
Founded in 2000, the Initiative is made possible by a unique partnership between the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF), the San Francisco Department of Public Health/Community Behavioral Health Services (DPH/CBHS), and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Leveraging the resources of each agency, the Initiative allows the school district, city departments, and CBOs to align and coordinate their efforts to address student health needs.
Nationally, the San Francisco Wellness Initiative is one of the first networks of high-school-based health centers that has been brought to scale in a school district.
