Policy Frameworks for Scaling School-Based Health Centers: Advancing Equity in Child Health and Education in Underserved Communities

School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are essential for reducing health and educational disparities in marginalized communities; yet, their scalability is limited. This systematic review compiles evidence from 15 studies, comprising peer-reviewed papers, policy reports, and toolkits, to establish a policy framework for expanding SBHCs to promote equity in child health and education. The review used a PRISMA-guided methodology to scan PubMed, ERIC, and Google Scholar, focusing on papers from 2010 to 2025. The results show that SBHCs make it easier for people to get care, close health gaps, and improve educational outcomes including attendance and grades. But things like inadequate funding, a lack of workers, inconsistent policies, and problems with execution make it hard to grow. Some of the chances are more Medicaid financing, cooperation between different sectors, telehealth integration, workforce development, and frameworks that focus on equity. The review suggests a unified policy framework based on social determinants of health and interconnected systems theories to guarantee long-term growth. Suggestions include increasing Medicaid payments, encouraging partnerships for health education, adding telehealth, and doing needs assessments to make programs more useful. Subsequent studies ought to investigate culturally sensitive policies and international School-Based Health Center (SBHC) models. This study emphasizes the necessity for cohesive policy initiatives to expand SBHCs, guaranteeing equal health and educational results for marginalized children.