Features

Berkeley is California’s most “teen healthy” city, according to a study released Wednesday by advocates of student health services and contraception. 

Get Real About Teen Pregnancy, a campaign launched by the California Wellness Foundation and the California Adolescent Health Collaborative, ranked Berkeley tops out of 55 California cities with a population over 100,000 in providing health services to its youth.  

Berkeley has also boasted the lowest teenage pregnancy rate since 1997 of any California jurisdiction with a health department. 

The news couldn’t have come at a better time for city officials, who are pushing a $2.2 million tax measure to preserve youth programs they say the city would otherwise have to sacrifice to pay off its budget shortfall. 

“The investment Berkeley has made in our young people has paid off big time,” Mayor Tom Bates said at a Wednesday press conference. “Anyone who says we put all this money for youth services but we never see any results, well now we see the results.” 

Special praise was reserved for the Berkeley High School Health Center. The 13-year-old clinic is funded with public and private money and offers students access to medical care, counseling and contraception.  

The Get Real findings come on top of a report from Berkeley’s Health Department which found that the city’s teen pregnancy rate has decreased 45 percent from 16 percent in 1994 to 8.8 percent in 2001. 

Dr. Poki Namkung, the city’s health officer, attributes the drop to the wealth of services available to teenagers and the city’s multi-faceted approach to dealing with teen sexuality. 

“Our services run the total continuum of family planning,” she said.  

In addition to educational programs and professional support, the city offers free birth control, including access to the morning-after pill. 

Namkung said the city has lost out on some federal aid because the Bush administration has allocated more federal dollars to programs that require recipients to teach solely abstinence. 

In 1998, she said, the California Legislature rejected federal funding because of limitations on what types of programs it could support. The pot of money in the Federal Abstinence Only Until Marriage program has grown from a few million dollars to over $30 million last year. 

In addition to professional care, Berkeley operates numerous peer support groups at Berkeley High. City of Berkeley Domestic Violence Counselor Katie Turchin said her involvement in Peer RAP (Relationship Abuse Program), has helped her deal with past abuse. 

As a Peer RAP volunteer, Turchin tours different schools in the district and talks to students about bullying, domestic violence and emotional abuse.  

“Before I got involved I didn’t realize this type of thing was so common, but now that I understand it better I can help my peers,” she said.  

Graham Heimler, a Berkeley High junior has an easier job. As a member of Peers Advocating Sexual Health Now, he and other members visit freshman classes and engage them in a three-day discussion on sex. 

“The discussions are remarkably mature and the students are open to talking about anything,” Heimler said. 

The report ranked cities on 13 variables that covered two main categories: Access to health services and youth development opportunities. 

Next after Berkeley in the rankings came Pasadena, Fullerton and Burbank. San Francisco finished tied for 25th place and Oakland finished 40th. 

›