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Michigan Organizations for Youth Sexual Health
Resources  for Adolescents and Youth as well as the adults who provide programs for them. See Conferences and Upcoming Events - for youth and adults who provide services for them.

News summaries

 

PosorNot

Think you can tell if we have HIV?

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

One in Two Sexually-Active Americans Contracts an STD by Age 25   

According to the CDC about half of new sexually transmitted infections each year are among those 15 - 24 years of age.  Since STDs often have no symptoms, most of those who are infected don’t know it.  Lack of information, misconceptions and social stigma keep many people from getting tested.  Others may mistakenly believe they have been tested as part of general health care. 

Testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea, two of the most commonly reported STDs, is easier than ever before with many clinics now offering urine-based tests.  Rapid HIV tests can provide results in as little as 20 minutes with a swab inside the mouth.  Diagnosis and treatment of STDs is critical to safe guarding personal health, fostering sexual responsibility and addressing the wider STD epidemic.

Get Yourself Tested! GYT short code (49809) provides details about local testing locations to mobile phones by simply texting a zip code. Use the testing location finder at www.GYT09.org  .

 

Hotlines 

  • National AIDS & STD Hotline 1-800-342-2437
  • Crisis Hotline 1-800-273-TALK.

Where can you get tested for HIV in Michigan?

  PosorNot

Think you can tell if we have HIV?

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

Youth living with HIV/AIDS is a reality. What are your risks for infection?
If you are sexually active you are at risk for STIs (sexually transmitted infections) including HIV. Do you know how to reduce your risks? Have you been tested for HIV? Do you know you can have a sexually transmitted infection and not know it? If you have questions, please call a hotline.

Michigan Services for HIV-Positive Teens and Youth

Know Your HIV Status? To find HIV Test Centers near you: Text: Your Zip Code To: KnowIt or 566948. www.hivtest.orgMobile 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 .

 

 

 

 

Michigan Organizations for Youth Sexual Health

The Michigan Coalition on Adolescent Sexual Health started off the year creating an organization infrastructure of this revamp of the state Adolescent HIV & STD Networking Committee. MiCASH will be guided by MOASH, which will serve as the parent or lead organization complete with a Board that includes at least one MiCASH member. MiCASH will have a four-member Steering Committee comprised of the MOASH director, two community members and a representative of the State. The Steering Committee will also aid the collaborative relationship between MOASH and MiCASH.  2010-2011 Steering Committee members: Ellen Ives (MOASH), Jessi Talamo (MDCH), Cherie Sietz (PPSCM) and Jessica Daniel (Horizons). The meetings also include an educational presentation for members. At this meeting Tammy provided an informative overview of the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. The next meeting will be held on April 22, 2010, location TBA. For more information, contact Ellen Ives ellenives@yahoo.com

MiCASH - Michigan Coalition on Adolescent Sexual Health
In 2009 a group of key stakeholders redefined and refocused the statewide networking group for providers of youth services to work better for the sexual health and prevention of sexual risk behaviors for our youth. See the Meeting Brief from the April 2009 meeting for the mission and goals of Michigan Coalition on Adolescent Sexual Health and the schedule for upcoming meetings, which will be held quarterly in Okemos.

MOASH - Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health
In Dec. 2007, State Directors of HIV, STD, adolescent health and school health programs wrote a white paper, the State of Adolescent Sexual Health in Michigan. The paper served as a call to action to policymakers, educators, health professionals, youth serving agencies, parents, and other key stakeholders. Michigan needed to take action, and form a free-standing 501(c)3 that could focus on these issues. A Steering Committee was formed, consisting of six people with over 80 years combined experience and expertise working in HIV, STD, abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention, and adolescent health. They came from diverse organizations including state government, local public health, family planning, an AIDS service organization, and private consulting. In March 2009 a Board of Directors met as a non-governmental state-level 501(c)3 organization, uniquely positioned to provide statewide leadership on evidence-based approaches to adolescent sexual health and pregnancy prevention.  For more information: Laurie Bechhofer, MPH, HIV/STD Education Consultant, Michigan Department of Education, bechhoferl@michigan.gov , 517-335-7252.

 

Resources

Teen Peer Educators

Services for HIV-Positive Teens and Youth

GHB Warning and Club Drugs

Reaching GLTB Youth / Providing Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth

Runaway Youth Programs

See more Teen Resources and Teen Websites (For both Youth/Teens and adults providing services/education) See also  Prevention Education; and the Funding Resources for grant opportunities for youth serving program support.


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

 


Services for HIV-Positive Teens and Youth

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.

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.

 


Reaching GLTB Youth

See Teen Resources page and Making Schools Safe for Sexual Minority Youth

Support Groups

Detroit: MPowerment

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.

Traverse City: Windfire Gay/Lesbian Youth Support Group

Call Amanda (231)922-4800 for more information and location.

 

National Organizations

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition

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.


The Trevor Helpline

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

Michigan Network for Youth and Families

Street Smart - HIV Prevention Program for Runaway Youth

The Ruth Ellis Center

GLTBQ Youth now have a safe refuge

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:

The Ruth Ellis Center, Inc., P.O. Box 661, Royal Oak, MI 48068-0661

For more information, e-mail or call (313) 867-6936 or visit the website.

 


Making Schools Safe for Sexual Minority Youth

National Education Association Report: A Report on the Status of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People in Education: Stepping Out of the Closet, into the Light

"Stepping Out of the Closet, Into the Light," highlights the struggle of GLBT students as well as that of GLBT school employees and offers concrete steps schools can take to improve their educational experience. It is National Education Associaton's first publication that combines research on GLBT issues and outlines program work by the Association to better the lives of students and its members.

The report outlines intervention strategies and practical measures for school districts to improve the learning environment for not only GLBT students, but for all students whom public schools serve. It is intended to inform and equip NEA's membership to deal effectively with GLBT concerns and ensure equal educational opportunities for students, but it also has the potential to influence policymakers and to serve as a resource for anyone who knows GLBT individuals.

 

The Psychology of Sexual Orientation Unit Lesson Plan Available
Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS), an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA), in partnership with the APA Committee of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns (CLGBTC), have published a new modular lesson plan on The Psychology of Sexual Orientation, which features content, activities, and resources for teachers. See more information in Teen Resources.
 

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 in Michigan

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.


A Silent Crisis: Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth

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.

To order Safe Schools for SMY manuals, see the Central Michigan University website www.emc.cmich.edu/products/misc/silentcrisis.htm, call 1-800-214-8961 or email emc@cmich.edu. To order posters, call MAPP (248) 545-1435.

 

Sexual Orientation and School Policy

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 

 

See Teen Resources page


 


Conferences, Trainings and Upcoming Events

April 14, 2010            Southfield

Why Media Matters: Teenage Sexuality and the Public Eye *NEW!*

It’s not just TV and movies anymore. We’ll talk about Facebook, Twitter and more!
In Southfield
April 14, 2010 9am - 4pm

Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan will offer a training tailored for youth focused educators and social workers. It will provide expert insight into the power and importance of media and social networking in youth culture. The negative effects of sex in the media, as well as ways to use media as a tool for positive sex education and social change will be discussed. Social Work CEU’s are offered for this training.

Complete registration information is available in pamphlet. Access our online registration at http://www.ppaction.org/mppan/events/whymediamatters_clone_1973002/details.tcl





If you have conferences or events for Teens/Youth or adults who provide services for them please send to bwood@mihivnews.com


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.

 


 

 

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