The Self Center (School-Linked Reproductive Health Services)

This program provided contraceptive and reproductive education and services to 7th - 12th grade students from an inner-city, low income, African-American neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland with high rates of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. One middle school and one high school were selected; each school had its own team consisting of a nurse and a social worker who provided services and education. The program included behavioral skills development as well as contraceptive, abstinence, and sexual health education.

At the schools, presentations were made during homeroom and classroom at least twice per year. On-site health suites were available for several hours daily to encourage small group discussions and individual counseling as needed. A team of students was selected and trained to help the staff with student outreach. At the off-site clinic, students could receive group education, individual counseling and medical services such as pregnancy testing, contraceptives, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

This program was funded through the Educational Foundation of America.

The goal of the program was to provide year-round reproductive and contraceptive education and services to students of two inner-city schools in Baltimore, Maryland with high rates of sexual activity and teen pregnancy.

An evaluation of students from 1981 to 1984 demonstrated a positive impact of the program. One thousand seven hundred program participants were compared with 1950 students with similar backgrounds from non-participating schools. Significantly more girls in the program schools delayed the start of sexual intercourse (median delay was seven months). Both boys and girls in the program schools showed a significant increase in contraceptive use at last intercourse; this effect was greatest among younger students who rarely used contraception at the beginning of the program. Significantly more program school students attended a health clinic before becoming sexually active and during the first months of sexual activity. By the third year of the program, the pregnancy rate of the high school girls in the program schools dropped 30 percent; the rate among girls not in the program schools rose 58 percent. Among younger teens in the program schools, pregnancy rates decreased slightly, whereas for younger teens not in the program schools, the pregnancy rates increased dramatically.