School clinics armed for reproductive health

By Rebecca Jones on June 1, 2010, INDenverTimes.com

Across the state, care providers at the 35 health care centers based at middle schools and high schools in Colorado encounter the same issues: Sexually active or potentially active teens with scant knowledge of contraceptive or safe sex practices; an epidemic of sexually-transmitted infections – especially chlamydia – among teens; care providers who may be excellent at treating asthma or giving sports physicals but unsure of best practices when it comes to reproductive health care; and skittish communities that would just as soon this didn’t become a topic for public conversation.

A new resource – the Adolescent Reproductive Health Tool Kit – released in late April by the Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care may provide some help with all those issues.

The tool kit, two years in the making, provides a range of concrete resources and suggestions for school-based health care providers on topics ranging from how to talk to school boards about teen pregnancy prevention to booklets on a range of reproductive topics written in teen-friendly lingo to guidelines for health care providers on just what they should be asking and advising their teen-age patients.

“When it comes to adolescent health, the reproductive piece often gets overlooked, sometimes intentionally,” said Melinda Gonzales, Director of Adolescent Health Programs for CASBHC, and the driving force behind the tool kit. “Most people are supportive but they just don’t know how much such programs are needed. And a few are vocal in their opposition.”

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On February 1, 2010, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 budget request. On the domestic side, advocates saw increases for Presidential priorities of teen pregnancy prevention and HIV/AIDS, while on the international front, family planning, and reproductive health programs and maternal and child health programs received the largest increases as the budget outlined the Global Health Initiative announced last year.

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs
The President’s FY11 budget increased funding for the new teen pregnancy prevention initiative by $19.2 million, for a total of $133.7 million. Created last year, the teen pregnancy prevention initiative will make grants available “to public and private entities to fund medically accurate and age appropriate [sic] programs that reduce teen pregnancy.” Of the funding, $85 million is directed for “programs that replicate the elements of one or more teenage pregnancy prevention programs that have been proven through rigorous evaluation to delay sexual activity, increase contraceptive use (without increasing sexual activity), or reduce teenage pregnancy,” and $28 million for “develop, replicate, refine, and test additional models and innovative strategies for preventing teenage pregnancy.” The budget also includes funding for evaluation and technical assistance.
 
While advocates for more comprehensive approaches to sex education were pleased with the increase, particularly in a tight fiscal year, many felt that the administration missed an opportunity to provide true, comprehensive sex education that promotes healthy behaviors and relationships for all young people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, by focusing the funding on teen pregnancy prevention, and not including the equally important health issues of STIs and HIV. 

For more information about federal support for comprehensive sexuality education, visit SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, by clicking here.