pregnancy prevention

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the recent report from the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF) urges the nation to stop waiting for a child to be maltreated before intervening with services and supports.

In my previous column, I quoted Sarah Brown, founder of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, who said that groups focusing on child and family well-being rarely propose interventions that begin before conception.

As a long time social worker, I am writing this article because I do believe my profession needs a complete 180-degree overhaul. We need a change. The purpose of these articles is to explain the rationale for such a change and then provide three solutions to bring about a platform for discussion.

The American Public Health Association announced this week that Dr. Douglas Kirby, one of the foremost experts on sex education and pregnancy prevention programs for adolescents, was posthumously awarded the association’s highest honor, the Sedgwick Memorial Medal.

by Blayke Bearman State Senator Leland Yee (D) of California authored Senate Bill 528 this year that would clarify who is responsible for providing proper sex education to foster youth and ensure that all foster youths have access to age-appropriate, reproductive health education.

by Sarah Benjamin University of California-Berkeley senior Hilary Vansell knows how difficult it is for teenagers to access accurate information about pregnancy prevention.  She has been dispelling myths and raising awareness about contraception in Oakland public high schools as a peer health educator since she was a sophomore.

Every time sexual health educator Alma De Anda passes around the female condom in her class, all the students say ‘wow’ at the size of the contraception. “When we take it out it is hilarious because they are usually weirded out by it,” said De Anda, who talks about all types of contraception and sexual health discussions with foster youth in the Los Angeles area.