2017 Southern California Sexual Health Summit Presentation Descriptions

9:40am - 10:40am Breakout Sessions

Say It, Don’t Shame It

Sarah McQueen & Camille Cooke, San Diego Youth Services

Pulling from 10+ years of experience with facilitating evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention curricula with adolescents in San Diego County, this presentation will focus on the power of language in teaching comprehensive sexual health curricula. It will touch on past trends in regards to language, current best practices, as well as recommendations for the future. Past trends will include a brief discussion on abstinence only programming vs. comprehensive – because even in current evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention curricula we still see vestiges of abstinence-only education (i.e. how we talk about abstinence and how we include pregnant/parenting youth). Current best practices will discuss the relatively recent shift towards using gender neutral and inclusive language in sexual health education (i.e. including gender identity, orientation, and sexuality in education), as well as the focus on using medically accurate terminology (why is this so important?). Recommendations for how we can harness the full impact of language moving forward will include discussions of how to truly make sexual health education truly inclusive and representative of the youth that we work with; how to ensure that it resonates with the youth we are teaching; and how to fully embrace a sex positive perspective, even if the curriculum we are using does not. The presentation will include feedback from the youth that we have worked with to help ground us and keep us connected to why we are doing this work in the first place!

Recruiting High Risk, Substance Using Latino MSM to HIV Testing and Treatment, PEP and PrEP

Roger Sediles & Raymond Jimenez, APLA Health

Men that have sex with men (MSM) both injection and non-injection drug users are at an elevated risk of HIV and STI infection. PrEP, PEP and TasP (treatment as prevention) have become the primary public health strategies to reduce HIV transmission/acquisition. These strategies are essential components of our “seek, test, and treat” HIV prevention approach, they could also assist us to identify a larger number of individuals who are infected with HIV/STIs and get them into treatment; similarly This approach can help identify HIV negative individuals uninformed about these prevention strategies use to reduce the spread of HIV and STIs.

Drug treatment programs would seem to be on the “front lines” of efforts to identify individuals infected but unaware of their status, unfortunately many substance users are not ready to seek and/or receive drug treatment and on many occasions happen to fall out of the system. The Latino MSM drug using population also encounters other barriers, in many cases due to the lack of culturally appropriate information and services available for the Spanish speaking population. They often express mistrust of service providers convey with fear of an HIV positive diagnosis declining HIV prevention services. This presentation will discuss the value of incorporating a PrEP, PEP, TasP and HIV/STI prevention, screening and treatment plan within a Harm Reduction based program for Latino active substance users. Our challenges, lessons learned and successes.

Changing Expectations through Our Sexual Health Language

Eva Fernandez, Melissa Strype & Jackie Lara, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles

This playful workshop will explore the subtle ways that gendered language around sex and bodies can impact our expectations and behaviors. By bravely questioning accepted ways of speaking about se and bodies and shifting our language to subvert gender norms and expectations, we believe we can change our thinking. Participants will leave feeling empowered to make intentional language choices in their sexaul health work.

California Healthy Youth Act: Getting Up to Speed

Kelli Soto, ACLU of Southern California

This presentation explores the updates to the statewide sexual education mandate in the California school system--including content on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex trafficking-with the arrival of the California Healthy Youth Act, as well as comparisons to requirements of prior mandates. Toolkits, materials and supplements developed by the ACLU for distribution to educators and healthcare providers will be examined along with recommendations to school and community partners implementing sexual health education curricula to create an inclusive, medically accurate and unbiased learning environment. Additionally, related policies including minors’ rights to confidential health services and confidential medical release in schools will also be covered.

This directly impacts the regions listed above as well as the entire state of California, and will ideally lead to revolutionary sex ed policy changes and the development of similar laws in other states.

10:50 am - 11:50 am Breakout Sessions

Domestic Violence and Health Collective-Orange County

Allyson Sonenshine, Jessica Reynaga, Amy Arambulo,& Jennifer Drader

The prevailing approach to addressing domestic violence is to focus on it as a social, legal and law enforcement issue. However, the Domestic Violence and Health Collective--Orange County (DVHC-OC) urges people to consider domestic violence as a threat to women’s health. Launched in May 2016, DVHC-OC resolves to eliminate domestic violence by integrating healthcare with established social, legal and law enforcement services in Orange County.

The Collective is administered by the Orange County Women’s Health Project and gains strategic and operational support from participating Orange County organizations including COmmunity Service Programs, Human Options, Laura’s House, Women’s Transitional Living Center Inc., University of California Irvine, and 211 OC. The work of DVHC-OC is made possible through generous funding by Blue Shield of California Foundation.

The DVHC-OC is made up of four key strategies each led by a different community agency: (1) Cross-Disciplinary Training for healthcare and social service providers; (2) Central clearinghouse; (3) Public health campaign; (4) Access Need/Capacity for Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services for DV survivors in Orange County.

#SexEd4all: Strategies for Communicating Sexual Health Messages with Students with Learning Differences

Perryn Reis & Abi Karlin-Resnick, Health Connected

Special education students are often omitted or not fully engaged when it comes to sexual health classes. Health Connected, a leading provider of sexual health programs in the Bay Area, will discuss how the new CA Education Code applies to students with disabilities and why this population both should and must be included, whether they are in a general education classroom or special day class. The facilitator will sare some lessons learned in working with this vulnerable and often ignored population and guide a discussion on the challenges and successes workshop participants have had working with students in special education programs. Participants will be some of the first to practice activities from Health Connected’s forthcoming Teen Talk Special Education curriculum and will leave with sample activities.

Connecting Vulnerable Youth to STD Services

William Alamo & Francisco Reyes, Essential Access Health

Community-Embedded Disease Intervention Specialists (CEDIS) ensure that STD positive patients receive the adequate treatment and reduce risk of reinfection by ensuring that all partners are notified to exposure. Through case investigations, CEDIS have identified special populations of youth and adults that are at an increased risk for STDs and other health problems. Sustainable collaborations with clinicians and community-based organizations can lead to the enhancement of patent assessments, STD screening, adherence to treatment guidelines, and referrals to support services. In this workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn about the counseling skills that CEDIS use to engage clients and potential to develop community partnerships to enhance the delivery of care for vulnerable youth.

California Healthy Youth Act Curriculum Review

Lidia Carlton & Tara Beeston, Adolescent Sexual Health Working Group

This session requires pre-existing knowledge of the California Healthy Youth Act; we will not review the California Healthy Youth Act in-depth.

The passing of the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA) and the enactment in 2016 was a major step forward for comprehensive sexual health education in California. However, guidance around compliance has been limited and it has been unclear which curricula are appropriate to meet the requirements of the new law. In response, the Adolescent Sexual Health Work Group (ASHWG) convened a subcommittee to conduct a comprehensive review of ten of the most commonly used curricula used throughout California for compliance with the CHYA. In this session, we will describe the process of the review, provide a brief overview of the results, and explore the components of the review that required subjective interpretation of the law.

1:50 pm - 2:50 pm Breakout Sessions

Fully Charged Life: Creating an Online Sexual Health Space for Young Queer Men

Juan Carmen, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Over the past couple of years, social media and the internet have become a big part of the daily routine of young people. It allows them to access and share information almost instantaneously. This workshop will focus on how to leverage social media as a means to deliver sexual and overall health and wellness messages specifically to young people. Participants will increase their understanding of the role of Tumblr as a low resource means to storing and promoting health messaging. We will discuss challenges and best practices on the implementation of social media as a health education portal. This workshop will review strategies to engage youth and youth adults in generating content (i.e. blogs, memes, vlogs), possibilities of cross agency collaboration, working with your agencies existing resources, as well as recruitment and retention strategies.

California Health Youth Act, The First Year-Implementation, Success and Challenges

Rachel Miller, San Diego Unified School District

In implementing the California Healthy Youth Act requirements within a public school setting can be challenging. Typically a district or school will not allow enough time for all requirements to be adequately explored. This workshop will focus on interpreting the intentions of new law and what to focus on while selecting and implementing curriculum. The goal of this workshop is to provide participants from all California regions to practical advice and guidance to implement compliant sexual health curriculum.

Sexuality Education in Charter Schools

Eric Buhi, San Diego State University

This session will focus on the past, present, and future for charter schools addressing critical sexual/reproductive health (SRH) issues. We will present findings from a qualitative study of sexuality/HIV prevention education in San Diego County charter schools. In 2015 and 2016, we telephone interviewed 20 charter school principals. Interviews followed a structured interview guide adapted from the Kaiser Family Foundation National Survey of Public Secondary School Principals. Interviewees averaged 6.35 years as a principal and 4.73 years at their current school. Among 17 principals acknowledging offering sexuality education in previous two years, the most commonly taught subjects were: STDs (94.1%), HIV/AIDS (88.2%), basics of how babies are made/pregnancy/birth (88.2%), consequences of sexual activity (58.8%), HIV/STD testing (58.8%), pregnancy prevention methods (52.9%), delaying sex (52.9%), and managing pressure to have sex (52.9%). Less than half of principals acknowledged including the following in their school’s curriculum: using condoms (41.2%), sexual assault (41.2%), sexual orientation (35.3%), talking with partners about STDs/pregnancy prevention (29.4%), talking with parents about relationships/sex (29.4%), and using/where to get birth control (23.5%). When asked what grade they would assign to their schools’ sexuality/HIV education instruction, principals assigned 1 A, 7 Bs, 7 Cs, and 1 D. As charter schools often have greater curricular latitude/flexibility than traditional schools and frequently cater to students from under-served communities, this study provides unique preliminary data that may lead to opportunities to implement innovative new, or revise/strengthen existing, SRH programming. Lessons learned will be shared, especially regarding creating partnerships with charter school principals.

Are Public Health Messages Sex Positive?

Alexander Pacach, Erik Valera, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles & Latino Commission on AIDS

Policies that shape sexual health messages often contradict a sex positive philosophy. Sexually transmitted infections (STI) and unintended pregnancy are often portrayed as a dangerous consequence for violating social norms. Using Gayle Rubin’s framework of the “charmed circle” we will examine sexual health campaigns from the past and present. Through this lens we’ll understand how people and communities are portrayed as vectors for disease. Further, we’ll demonstrate how race, gender, and behavioral norms shape public health messages in order to prioritize the health of one population over another.

We will examine the modern history of sexual health messages disseminated in public health arenas. Participants will have the opportunity to critique how public health messages aimed at preventing sexually transmitted infections (STI) and unintended pregnancies. Our presentation will include an in depth discussion about how language shapes our perception of disease and how we talk about sexual health with clients. Furthermore, will practice creating sex positive public health messages intended to empower individuals and communities.

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Breakout Sessions

Reducing Risk through Initial Intake and Routine Screening

Cindy Hoffman, LCSW Private Practice

Clinical diagnoses of emotional problems and depression are serious global health care issues among children and adolescents in today’s society. WIthin many Public health programs, children and adolescents are not routinely screened for emotional problems and depression. By briefly screening adolescents and inquiring about symptoms and depression, these interventions can lead to early intervention and prevent the development of significant high-risk behaviors.

An Innovative Approach to Reaching Young Gay, Bisexual and other MSM for HIV Testing in the Border Region

Linda Salgin & Ilana Brongiel, San Ysidro Health Center

San Ysidro Health Center’s (SYHC) Research and Health Promotion department in collaboration with the HIV department have a long standing history providing HIV prevention and sexual health services in San Diego’s Border Regions. In particular, South Bay and Southeast San Diego account for 21% of the reported HIV cases in the entire county and have the highest concentration of HIV-positive Latinos and African-Americans. With SYHC’s newly diagnosed HIV positivity rate of 7%, there is a great need for culturally proficient and innovative HIV prevention services tailored to young gay, bisexual, or MSM of color in the Border Region.

To address this gap, the CDC funded SYHC to implement Comprehensive High Impact Prevention (CHIP), to provide culturally tailored and competent HIV prevention services specific to the needs of 16-29 year old gay, bisexual or MSM of color living in the San Diego Border Region. The CHIP program utilizes various innovative strategies to reach the target population such as the CHIP mobile unit to provide street-side HIV testing and counseling. Program promotion has been most effective by utilizing Facebook, Instagram, and the CHIP website. With the recent emphasis in meeting clients where they are at, dedicating time for outreach through gay dating applications has yielded positive results in recruitment into the CHIP program. Given that San Diego’s Border Region does not have an openly gay population, tapping into the target populations social networks, coupled with the aforementioned strategies have shown to be the most effective in reaching this population.

It's Awkward-What are Youth Saying about Sexual and Reproductive Health Services?

Gabriella Galdamez & Sarah Roush, Essential Access Health

In 2015, Essential Access Health (formerly California Family Health Council) conducted qualitative studies to assess how adolescents in Los Angeles access SRH information and services. Focus groups were conducted with youth from four youth serving community based organizations in South LA to assess how they access SRH information and services. Surveys were additionally conducted to assess student perceptions and access of school-based Wellness Center clinic services at three LAUSD school sites. Results highlighted opportunities as well as challenges for youth-serving educators and health professionals. This workshop will discuss Essential Access’ lessons learned and identify methods for making programs more responsive to the needs of youth.

An Educator’s Guide to Discussing Sex Trafficking

Rosana Cacace-Zakhir & Brittany Cropper, Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley

In recent years, sex trafficking has come to the forefront of national headlines; however, educators and advocates might find it difficult to broach this topic in a way that is safe and productive. This workshop takes a non-judgmental and survivor centered approach to discussing sex trafficking in a group setting. Facilitators will define terms, clarify misconceptions around sex trafficking while providing tangible tools and activities that are accurate and age appropriate. Participants will also receive tips on self-care practices for themselves and the youth they serve.