Drama brings
Civil Rights
Era to Life
'City of
Roses’
Ballots go
out Friday
VOTE
Registered?
Call county
elections,
503-988-3720
see A&E page 8
j.ìortlauò
hsm ter years
E s ta b lis h e d in 1970
Volume XXXX, Number 40
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • October 13, 2010
Committed to Cultural Diversity
ducating Teens
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photo BY
M ark W ashincton ZT he P ortland O bserver
Getting ready to implement new sex education programs from the Planned Parenthood’s headquarters on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard are Camelia Hison.
vice president of education for Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (from left), and Amanda McLaughlin and Bianca Taveras, education coordinators for the local
organization. Teen pregnancy prevention in the Portland area will see a major boost in funding and direction thanks to funding from the U S Department of Health and
Human Services.
A new direction for sex ed
Teen pregnancy prevention program s
in Portland and the Pacific N orthw est will
get a m ajor boost o f financial support and
change o f direction because o f a new sex
education policy th at’s a departure from
the form er Bush adm inistration’s absti
nence-only directives.
The Northwest Coalition for Adolescent
Health has been awarded $20 million by the
U.S. Department o f Health and Human Ser
vices to replicate a proven, evidence-based
youth development sex education program
in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska that
reduces teen pregnancy while boosting aca
demic achievement, extracurricular activities
and smarter life decisions.
The coalition is comprised o f six Planned
Parenthood affiliates, including Portland. It
of
•^community service
will focus on areas throughout Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska
where teen birth and pregnancy rates are
high and health disparities exist.
As part o f the Obama administration’s
new sex education policy, eligibility for the
federal support was limited to teen preg
nancy prevention programs that have been
proven to make a positive effect on sexual
activity, contraceptive use, sexually trans
mitted infections, pregnancy or births.
For hundreds o f Portland area young
people, that will mean access to Planned
Parenthood’s Teen Outreach Program, a
youth development program aimed at reduc
ing teen pregnancy.
continued
on page 4