A high school senior decided recently that she wants to become sexually active with her boyfriend. But she is not yet comfortable talking to her mom about birth control and would be unable to get to a doctor’s appointment on her own. Instead, she walked over to the new well-being center at school during a free period.
It was easy. Planned Parenthood runs a sexual healthcare clinic at Esteban Torres High School in East L.A. once a week. Other days educators are available for stress management and students’ other health concerns, including substance abuse.
The clinic is part of an initiative — funded by the L.A. County departments of public health and mental health and Planned Parenthood Los Angeles — to open 50 such centers in schools throughout the county in the next year.
The effort, which will cost at least $12 million in its first year, is designed to bring much-needed health and wellness care to underserved teenagers at a time when Los Angeles and other districts are struggling to meet the basic needs of their students to help free them to focus on learning.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.