Community Circle Meeting at Vernon Area Library on March 12th

A Community Circle meeting will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, March12th at the Vernon Area Library 300 Olde Half Day Road, Lincolnshire. The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) is sponsoring a Community Circle to raise awareness about adolescent sexual health in Illinois and build support for the Illinois Personal Responsibility and Education Program (Illinois PREP) Act in the Illinois General Assembly. Information about the Illinois PREP Act regarding Comprehensive Sexual Health Education in Schools will be discussed by members of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health. This meeting is an opportunity for parents, students, health providers, school personnel, and community members to better understand the PREP Act, and health resources in their community.

            ICAH is dedicated to improving adolescent sexual health and has been working statewide for 30 years to identify resources, supports, barriers and opportunities toward the achievement of sexual health education for youth in Illinois.  ICAH is currently holding community circle conversations around the state as a means to build support for a statewide bill that provides medically-accurate, evidence-based and age appropriate sexual health education in public schools. To assist Illinois in reaching these goals, Community Circles will focus on these aspects:

• Assist community members to identify networks, connections and strengths that contribute to community health;
• Better understand the importance of sexual health education for young people;
• Discuss what aspects contribute to overall community health and wellness and how to achieve those outcomes;
• Mobilize support for comprehensive sexual health education in Illinois schools.

“ICAH’s hope is that Community Circles will allow participants the opportunity to discuss adolescent health in their communities, including perceptions and what their ideal picture of young people’s sexual health would be,” says Tiffany Pryor, Youth Development and Advocacy Coordinator, ICAH.

Research on comprehensive sexuality education has consistently shown that young people who receive complete and accurate information about abstinence and contraception were significantly less likely to be involved in pregnancy. Illinois teen pregnancy rates for teenagers ages 15 to 19 are higher than the national rate. Since 1990, Illinois’s teen pregnancy rate has only dropped by 22- percent, compared to a 24-percent drop nationally.

Illinois youth are at risk for pregnancy, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Research has shown that comprehensive sexual health education can successfully reduce sexual risk taking.

Activities include creating a Community Health Report Card, building a community Eco-Map, and making a toolkit and plan for action. The Eco-Map will explore the impact of how media, church, parents, friends and school impact today’s youth’s decision making.

      For more information, contact Joy Messinger at ICAH at 312-427-4460, X 226.