Community Action, Inc. is pleased to partner with the School District of Beloit as a provider of school-based reproductive healthcare, preventive healthcare and education once a week at Beloit Memorial High School. Until recently, these same services were provided by Beloit Area Community Health Center.

What services will the clinic offer? Community Action takes an abstinence-first approach to reproductive health education. However, Community Action recognizes that some teens may choose to be sexually active. This clinic provides pregnancy testing and education. Condoms and other forms of contraception are not distributed at the high school. Clinic staff will not write prescriptions for contraception at the high school. Students may request those services at their primary care provider or an outside clinic.

Staff members may contact WIC and the Rock County Health Department’s Prenatal Care Coordination program to enroll patients into pregnancy-related services. Patients may opt-out of these services.

The student clinic also provides testing, education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). According to the Rock County Health Department, Beloit consistently has the highest STI rates in Rock County. In 2013 seven out of every ten STI cases in Rock County occurred in individuals under the age of 25.

How will the clinic’s services change under Community Action? Community Action staff members will provide the same services offered by Beloit Area Community Health Center. First Choice Women’s Health Center, the Community Action program that manages the clinic, operates a satellite location Wednesdays in the Eclipse Center. Beloit Area Community Health Center was also located in the Eclipse Center when it operated the student clinic.

Will parents know if their child visits the clinic? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports nearly two thousand school-based health centers (SBHCs) operate nationwide. These SBHCs support and desire parental involvement in a student’s use of reproductive health services. However, as per WI Statute 48.981 (2m) a and WI Statute 253.07(3), minors are allowed to consent to their own care for reproductive health services and testing for STIs, including HIV. Community Action encourages parents to discuss healthy choices with their teens.

For further information contact: Marc Perry, Director of Community Programs at (608) 313-1338 or mperry@community-action.org