STDs, HIV and Adolescents and Youth

Some of us are HIV positive and some are negative. All of us want to challenge your assumptions about HIV. Play the game and see if you can tell who is "Pos or Not". Check it out at: http://www.posornot.com

Mobile phone users can send a text message with their zip code to "KNOWIT" (566948). Within seconds, they will receive a text message containing information on HIV testing sites near them. This mobile phone service connects users with CDC’s testing database found at http://www.HIVtest.org .

ATTN: TEENS & Young ADULTS living with HIV/AIDS
The statewide speakers bureau, A Positive Perspective needs people living with HIV/AIDS to tell their stories. We are particularly looking for people ages (18-25) and/or those in the Kalamazoo, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Jackson and Traverse City areas, but also need speakers in the metropolitan Detroit area. Speakers are provided training to deliver their messages about their lives before, during and after diagnosis, what it is like to live with HIV/AIDS, and how HIV/AIDS has impacted them, and/or their families. Speakers are paid a stipend for speaking engagements.
If you are interested in becoming a speaker or need further information, please contact the Michigan AIDS Fund at 248 395 3244 or info@michaidsfund.org .

Americorps Seeks Qualified Applicants
The Michigan AIDS Fund is looking for people interested in working in the Detroit area
for AIDS service programs from August 4, 2008 through mid-July, 2009.
If accepted, members receive:A monthly living allowance of $1000 and Basic health insurance.At the end of the program members receive: An education award of $4,725. These are full-time positions. Applicants must be at least 17 years old to apply.

Teen Peer Educators

Peer health education involves training young people to lead workshops for their peers with a focus on skills building through interactive and experiential activities. The goals of such programs are usually to reduce high risk behavior and promote healthy behavioral choices.

Peer Education...a little help from your friends 2004 Edition -See Teen Resources

PACT Conference
The Michigan HIV/STD and Adolescents Networking Committee sponsors a conference for teen peer educators.

PACT Conference History
The HIV/STD and Adolescents Networking Committee has planned an annual conference on HIV/AIDS for youth peer educators since 1993. In 1999, a youth focus group named the conference P.A.C.T. (Peers Acting for Change Together); and the networking committee changed the focus to include sexually transmitted diseases. Youth representing agencies from all over the state have participated in the conference.

The program focuses on building knowledge and skills critical for HIV/STD prevention work and has been highly evaluated by the youth participants. The conference has involved many youth-serving agencies as both conference planners as well as participants.

For those in the Detroit metro area looking for a therapist who works with adolescents, LGBT or straight, Tracy Niyo [niyot@royaloakschools.com]is taking new clients. She is with Counseling Insights located in Southfield at 12 Mile Rd. and Telegraph. Niyo works in middle/high schools currently and has worked with HIV+ and LGBT youth through Children's Hospital and in private practice. Email or call 248-224-3754 for more info or a referral. She takes insurance and has a sliding fee.

Horizon's Project

This is a special program of Children's Hospital in Detroit providing services for HIV positive teens and youth aged 13-24 yrs. For more information, call (313) 924-9486, fax (313) 924-9519.

Reaching GLTB Youth

Support Groups

MPowerment Detroit offers a clean, safe place for gay male youth ages 14-24 to hang out and meet new people. Funded by the Michigan AIDS Fund, MPowerment sponsors social groups and events and HIV and STD prevention. For more information, call (313) 963-4202. Weekly M-Group sessions on Sundays from 7 - 10 pm.

This group meets every Monday at 6 pm. Call (231)922-4800 for more information and location.

National Organizations

The nation’s pre-eminent voice for an increasingly sophisticated and politically active population of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youths. One hundred thirty such youth-serving organizations comprise the Coalition and each year more than 1,000 such youths attend one of the Coalition’s five regional organizing conferences and its Washington, D.C.-based National Youth Summit. The Coalition is preparing to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

This crisis line is the only 24-hour toll-free line solely dedicated to counseling gay and questioning youth. Youth can call (866) 488-7386 or visit the web site: www.TheTrevorProject.org.

Runaway Youth

The Ruth Ellis Center

The Ruth Ellis Center has a "transitional living facility" for runaway and homeless gay, lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual and questioning (GLTBQ) youth in metropolitan Detroit. This temporary facility offers life skills and other resources so they will be able to transition to independent living. The facility, known a "Ruth's House" will maintain an anonymous location. It is one of a handful of facilities of its kind across the U.S. (However, Ozone House in Ann Arbor also provides housing services for homeless youth and support services for gay and lesbian youth.)

The Ruth Ellis Center has offered a Drop-In Center and Street Outreach Program for the past several years. It also has a Host Home Project, where they match up responsible people in the community who have extra space in their homes. For more information, call (313) 867-6936.

The Ruth Ellis Center was named in honor of a woman who in the 1930's and 40's opened her home in Detroit to GLTBQ youth so they would have a safe place to socialize and receive support from the members of the GLBTQ community.

Your tax-deductible contribution of money, clothing, personal care items and/or time will help them get started. These can be sent to:

Making Schools Safe for Sexual Minority Youth

EDUCATION, HEALTH AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS UNITE TO KEEP STUDENTS SAFE
APA Press Release
February 14, 2008

WASHINGTON—A diverse coalition of 13 national organizations has joined in a renewed effort to protect the safety and emotional well-being of students, including those who are at higher risk because of their sexual orientation. The group of education, health, mental health and religious organizations today released "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators, and School Personnel."

The publication serves as a guide for employees who confront sensitive issues involving gay, lesbian and bisexual students. It is intended to help school administrators foster safe and healthy school environments, in which all students can achieve to the best of their ability. "Just the Facts" includes the most recent information from professional health organizations, as well as up-to-date information on the legal responsibility of school officials to protect students from anti-gay harassment. "Just the Facts" has been mailed to all 16,000 public school superintendents in the United States.

The coalition issued the following joint statement:

"The opportunity for students to learn is diminished when they do not feel safe or supported at school. In addition to assault and harassment, gay, lesbian and bisexual students experience high rates of emotional distress, suicide attempts and substance abuse. These factors hinder their emotional and social development, as well as their ability to succeed in school. It is our responsibility to provide accurate and factual information. We believe this publication will be a valuable tool to help educators, administrators and others concerned with caring for America’s students."

Members of the coalition are the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Psychological Association, the American School Counselor Association, the American School Health Association, the Interfaith Alliance Foundation, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Education Association and the School Social Work Association of America.

First formed in 1998, the coalition produced the original version of "Just the Facts" to respond to concerns that school personnel were receiving inaccurate information on the issue of sexual orientation. The updated publication reflects the coalition’s continuing concern about the safety and well-being of gay, lesbian and bisexual students.

(Full text of the booklet is available at http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/publications/justthefacts.pdf )

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.

Providing a safe learning environment for all teens – especially GLTBQ adolescents, making the schools safe from harassment and bullying, is starting to be addressed in Michigan. In Michigan, a statewide coalition emerged in the summer of 2001 called the Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth (SMY) Workgroup. The group is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, several school districts, the Michigan PTA, gay and lesbian groups around the state – including PFLAG, the Parents for Lesbians and Gay youth, MDE, two state universities and, of course, the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP). Its members include teachers, health educators, counselors, parents and legal professionals.

The same summer, the ACLU of Michigan along with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) of Detroit published a document, What Schools Need to Know, which addressed the responsibilities of all school personnel to protect GLTB students.

The Safe Schools for SMY Workgroup has developed a resource guide, A Silent Crisis: Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth, a guide to policy and procedures around anti-violence and anti-bullying, and corresponding posters for schools. The development of the resource guide involved technical assistance from the National Network for Youth and the American Psychological Association.

The workgroup, which has 18 active members, has provided awareness sessions for school district regional coordinators and developed a one-day training for school staff. For more information on this training, contact either the Calhoun County ISD, either Bob Higgins, 616-789-2415 or Holly White, 616-789-2434.

Since the 1980s there has been ample documentation that the school experience of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered, students is not only miserable, but dangerous. According to the Human Rights Watch (2001), gay youth spend a great deal of time in school simply trying to avoid verbal harassment, slurs, and shoves, if not outright beatings.
With little energy to focus on their studies, many gay youth give up and leave school rather than face continued harassment. As bad as is student harassment, administrators and teachers frequently avoid assisting gay youth, and often actually blame them for asking for trouble by being openly gay. There are numerous cases of gay students being punished and taunted by teachers and administrators for not appearing or acting "normal" (Human Rights Watch, 2001). Although there are recent court cases where harassed students have won significant victories, it seems clear that gay, lesbian and transgendered kids continue to suffer verbal and physical abuse in schools. There continues to be a manifest need to create safe and accepting spaces for students who are somehow different from the accepted heterosexual norm. Clearly there is a need, writes Arthur Costigan, for a book such as Ian Macgillivray's "Sexual Orientation and School Policy." This book, based on the author's doctoral research, is an attempt to present a discussion of political possibilities for creating safe spaces and equal treatment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed, and queer/questioning students -- GLBTIQ to use the author's accurate but unwieldy acronym.
http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=11275

Get Involved

HIV/STD and Adolescents Networking Committee

This committee is comprised of representatives of teen/youth serving agencies statewide and around the state. Meetings provide discussion on a specific topic of interest and an opportunity to network with colleagues and individual members statewide.

The committee hopes to involve more agencies statewide. See the meetings calendar for the next administrative meeting. You may see a review of past meetings and special topics covered.

Teens/youth are encouraged to participate, especially in the planning process for the next P.A.C.T. (Peers Acting Together for Change) conference.

Conferences, Trainings and Upcoming Events

Teen Dating Violence Webinar Alert
Improving Community Responses to Statutory Sexual Assault

Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 1:00pm-2:30pm EST
This webinar will look at the challenges that arise when responding to statutory sexual violence. Statutory sexual assault is a form of sexual violence and is illegal. Often, these relationships are based on power differentials, manipulation, isolation and coercion. However, many teens involved in statutory sexual assault situations may not consider themselves "victims". They may not want a police report to be made. They may feel loved by their partner and reject the idea that they are experiencing "sexual assault" or "sexual violence". Participants in this webinar will recognize the dynamics involved in statutory sexual assault and be able to address challenges related to the response, investigation and prosecution of statutory sexual assault.

Register Now

Contact Us

Together we can improve the response to teen dating violence across the country. Visit our website at www.breakthecycle.org for additional information. We encourage you to contact us regarding specific technical assistance with matters related to teen dating violence at expert@breakthecycle.org . You can also contact Teen Center directly at teencenter@breakthecycle.org for more information on our future webinars.

Alternative for Suicide hotline

1-800-SUICIDE Hotline Set to Shut Down on Saturday August 12

The nation's largest suicide hotline, 1-800-SUICIDE, is scheduled to go out of service this Saturday, August 12, 2006. There are currently negotiations in progress that may prevent this. However, in the event that these negotiations are not successful, NAMI is issuing this alert to raise public awareness of the alternative for those in need of help.

The alternative number for those in crisis is 1-800-273-TALK. This number will put callers in touch with the federally-funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a service that has been in operation since January, 2005. It functions as a central switchboard to immediately connect callers to virtually the same network of certified, local crisis centers accessed by 1-800-SUICIDE. So callers can receive counseling or emergency services, if needed, close to home.

All calls to the 1-800-273-TALK Lifeline are private and confidential. Confidentiality of personal information and of personal disclosures during calls is a high priority for the parties involved in operating the Lifeline.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is working with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the entire suicide prevention community to ensure that every call for help during a suicide crisis is answered. Some of the measures being put in place include:

Ensuring that the entire suicide-prevention community is working the phones and Internet to make sure that all referring agencies know that 1-800-273-TALK is the number to call for suicide intervention.

Notifying service providers, including directory 411 and 211 operators, that 1-800-SUICIDE is scheduled to go out of service beginning August 12, 2006 and to direct callers to 1-800-273-TALK for help.

Redirecting callers who call 1-800-SUICIDE to call 1-800-273-TALK through a recording.

Youth - Teens

This is a resource section for both Adolescents and Youth as well as the adults who provide programs for them.

See News summaries on teen issues

Think you can tell if we have HIV?

Hotlines

Teen Peer Educators

Services for HIV-Positive Teens and Youth

Horizon's Project

Reaching GLTB Youth

Support Groups

National Organizations

Runaway Youth

The Ruth Ellis Center

Making Schools Safe for Sexual Minority Youth

Get Involved

HIV/STD and Adolescents Networking Committee

Conferences, Trainings and Upcoming Events

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