May 13, 1999

Last week my fellow commissioner, Randy Franke talked about what the Children and Families Commission does to support children, youth and families by allocating grant money to community-based programs.

As Commissioner Franke stated, county-wide planning and decision making are done by community volunteers. Careful consideration is given to programs that focus on the strengths as well as the needs in the community in order to receive these grants.

Strengthening families is what the Children and Families Commission is all about, and it is what is needed today more than ever. Sadly, however, our Marion County Health Department is in direct conflict with the goals of the Children and Families Commission when it comes to dealing with teen pregnancy.

The goal of Children and Families is to strengthen families. The goal of the health department is to reduce the number of babies.

This conflict of purposes and values was highlighted recently when renewal of a grant proposal came before Marion County Board of Commissioners. As I studied this grant and reviewed the assurances the county must abide by, acceptance of these federal dollars became very difficult for me. Some would say it is just federal dollars – take them! It simply continues a program that has been ongoing for years. However, one that apparently no one has looked at for years. To me, accepting these federal dollars comes with a tremendous price – a price to our children and our families.

Sure, we can take these federal dollars, but the assurances the county must abide by in order to receive the money do not dovetail with our community priorities or our community values.

To receive the money, Marion County Health must: “Work to ensure non-prescriptive methods of birth control are readily available to teens…without having to interact with staff…available in local theaters, fast food establishments, bowling alleys, community centers and restaurants…”

Regarding appointments, the County must: “At the very least, provide a brief welcome and a condom…provide a delayed pelvic exam option, allowing teens who qualify to get oral contraceptives at the first visit…ensure confidentiality…do not send bills to teen’s home without written permission…”

These assurances are disturbing enough, but programs as they now stand have established a confidential relationship between our children and the government. A relationship parents are secondary to. Our children are put at risk physically and medically when a parent cannot provide important medical history prior to a child being given contraceptives. When government has the primary role in a child’s life, families are destroyed.

In Marion County, teen pregnancy is rising. There is a lot of talk about reducing the number of babies; but not much else. And it is not working.

Do we tell our kids, “Don’t drink. But if you do, here’s the six pack!”

Do we tell our kids, “Don’t smoke. But if you do, here’s the pack of cigarettes!”

Of course we don’t. We care about their health and their overall well being. When children engage in sexual activities there can be far greater lifetime consequences. So why do we say, “Here’s the condom”?

We need consistent messages to our children. We need the Marion County Health Department to be consistent with and working together with our local Children and Families Commission. Otherwise, what good is the local control we have fought so hard for in our Children and Families Commission?

When it came time to vote on renewal of this grant, I cast a lone “NO” vote against my two fellow commissioners’ “AYE” votes, so the dollars continue to come. However, I have met with our Children and Families Director, the Health Department Director and my fellow commissioners to discuss ways we can change the course of these programs to be in concert with our Children and Families Commission. After all, how can we continue to tout our Children and Families Commission on one hand, and turn around and work in conflict on the other hand? I appreciate their willingness to work together on this, and I look at this as a wonderful opportunity to apply the positive, successful principles that guide Children and Families to our procedures and our policies at the Health Department.

I am confident that working together, we can reduce teen sex, which in turn reduces teen pregnancy. But more important, we can work toward building strong families and healthy families, where children and teens have hope for the future.

Patti Milne

588-5212 work

982-6097 home