WHAT'S NEW

NCYL is excited to be teaming up with The Family Violence Prevention Fund on their new violence prevention initiative, Project Connect.

To support this initiative, NCYL will be creating state-specific legal guides that describe the confidentiality and reporting obligations of health care providers when they find out a teen patient has been or may have been subject to dating violence. Read More.

School Board Votes Unanimously to Let Students Leave School for Confidential Medical Appointments, Bringing District Into Compliance with State Law

California’s teen pregnancy rate declined by 52 percent between 1992 and 2005, the steepest drop registered by any state over that period—and far above the national decline of 37 percent. Public health experts credit this record decline to California’s aggressive and evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention efforts dating back to the 1990s. 

NEW!  This manual describes consent to treatment law for minors involved in the California juvenile justice system, including consent to mental health services, psychotropic medication and reproductive health care, among other topics.  download PDF

A similar manual describes consent to treatment law for minors involved in the California Foster Care System.  Download PDF.

NCYL Senior Attorney Rebecca Gudeman was interviewed on Fox 40 Sacramento about students' right to confidential medical leave from school in the San Juan (CA) Unified School District. 

A study by the Centers for Disease Control released March 11th 2008 estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – or 3.2 million teenage girls – is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis). To read  an article about teen access to the HPV vaccine, click here.

A study published August 1st 2008 by the Centers for Disease Control found that the percentage of  high schoolers who are sexually active or have ever engaged in sexual intercourse has gone down since 1991.  Unfortunately, the same study found no reduction in the prevalence of risky sexual behavior.  The New York Times suggests that this may be one reason there has been an increase in diagnosed HIV and AIDS cases among teens 15 to 19 years old.  To read the New York Times article, click here.  To see the CDC report, click here.