Programs and Activities
The Center’s work falls into two primary program areas that together encompass the majority of barriers adolescents must overcome to have access to comprehensive health care: consent and confidentiality; and financial access to services. Much of the Center’s work is crosscutting and involves the intersection between consent and confidentiality policies and the financing of adolescents’ care. The Center’s work emphasizes the needs of vulnerable populations of adolescents such as those from low-income families, young people who have been in state custody, and homeless and disconnected youth.
Currently, the Center is working in five targeted areas:
Improving Access to Immunizations for Adolescents
The Center is working to ensure that adolescents have access to immunizations. The Center’s work will increase understanding of legal and policy issues associated with both consent for and financial access to immunization for the adolescent population. Over the past several years, new vaccines have become available to prevent serious illnesses and conditions in the adolescent population, including vaccines for several strains of human papilloma virus (HPV), to prevent both cervical cancer and genital warts, and a vaccine for Hepatitis B, among others. In the future, additional vaccines are expected to become available for sexually transmitted and communicable diseases such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) and HIV.
Improving Access to Health Care for Homeless and Disconnected Youth
The Center is working to ensure that young people who are homeless or are disconnected from their families and other major social institutions nevertheless have access to essential health care. These youth are among the most vulnerable in society and often have health care problems that threaten their own long term health and productivity as well as the public health.
Improving Access to Health Care for Youth Leaving State Custody
The Center is working to ensure that young people who are leaving state custody have access to essential health care. These youth have multiple health problems, few social supports, and limited access to health care. Federal law provides options for states to increase public health insurance coverage and other means of health care access for these vulnerable young people.
Improving Access to Essential HIV Services for Vulnerable Adolescents
The Center is working to protect the most vulnerable adolescents who are especially at risk for lack of adequate prevention services, becoming infected with HIV, and limited access to treatment if infected. These include youth of color, particularly young women of color, and young men who have sex with men (YMSM). They also include GLBT youth, and youth who are homeless, in state custody, living in the South, or living in poverty.
Maintaining Consent and Confidentiality Protections for Adolescents
The Center is working to ensure the broadest possible understanding of the rationale for providing consent and confidentiality protections in adolescent health care and to assist health care professionals, advocates, and policymakers to maintain these protections that have been put in place over the past half century.