Detroit School-Based Clinics Could Close Because of Recent Cuts to Michigan Budget

Several Michigan social service programs, particularly those serving teenagers and the poor, have scaled back the number of people they serve or the services they offer in light of $540 million in cuts and transfers recently made to the state budget, the Detroit News reports (Kurth, Detroit News, 11/28). Facing a budget shortfall totaling $961 million -- deemed the "worst fiscal crisis in 20 years" -- Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) in late October called for "across-the-board cuts" (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/24). About 27% of the cuts approved earlier this month were directed at social service programs serving the poor. The cuts include a $275,000 reduction in the budget for school-based clinics, part of an overall $2 million cut for adolescent health care. In the Detroit metro area, the cuts could force the closure of clinics at Northern, Northwestern and Highland Park high schools. Karen Edwards, Detroit's manager for school health services, said, "There's a great possibility [the clinics will] have to be shut down. It's tragic." The News reports Northwestern High School's health clinic was the first of its kind in the state and was "used as a model for others" across the country. According to Dr. Margaret Betts, Detroit's medical director for school-based clinics, Northwestern's clinic is the primary source of care for 75% of the students that visit it each week. The cuts also "jeopardize" the Dearborn-based ACCESS Teen Health Center and Detroit's Taylor Teen Health Center and Bruce Douglas Health Center, Grace Ross Health Clinic and the Napoleon B. Jordan Center for Health (Detroit News, 11/28).