CHENANGO COUNTY – Family Planning of South Central New York, Inc. does more than just provide contraceptives and sexual-health-related medical services. They also educate the residents and youth of Chenango County and neighboring counties about sexuality, reproduction and other related topics.
“Family Planning of South Central New York, Inc. provides comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically accurate sexuality education to young people in schools, human service agencies, and even households throughout Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Broome Counties. We believe people of all ages need accurate information to make healthy decisions about their sexuality now and in the future,” said Ingrid Husisian, the Director of Public Communications.
The organization believes medically accurate, evidence-based sex education for youth and adults is important because it prevents unintended pregnancy, including teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. Family Planning’s education programs encourage people to make educated choices about how they want to plan their families and protect their sexual and reproductive health.
Husisian says, “Whether or not we’re comfortable with the idea, some teenagers do choose to have sex. Unfortunately, many young people are not getting medically accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education to prepare them for this important and potentially life-altering decision. Many ‘abstinence only until marriage’ programs refuse to answer specific questions about birth control or focus only on failure rates of condoms and birth control rather than equip young people with the skills to use them as effectively as possible. This leaves many young people with a real need for information.”
“It’s interesting to note that just because an adult has been sexually active for years, it doesn’t mean he or she has accurate information,” she adds.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization that works to advance reproductive health, unintended pregnancy remains a persistent problem in the United States. More than 37 percent of the pregnancies in the United States are unintended and in 31 states, more than half of pregnancies are unintended. New York is one of these states with an unintended pregnancy rate of 62 percent, the institute says.
According to the New York State Department of Health, one in 15 teenage females between the ages of 15 and 19 years old become pregnant in Chenango County, which means there are 64 pregnancies per 1,000 teen females. This rate has increased in the past four years and is higher than in neighboring counties. The NYS Department of Health also reports in 2011, 56 people had HIV or AIDS in Chenango County.
The educators for Family Planning receive extensive, ongoing training to stay current in their field. The educators recently returned from the Center for Family Life Education’s national sexuality education conference in New Jersey, which is attended by health and sexuality educators, sex therapists and health teachers. The conference is an annual update for the most current information on sexuality and sex education.
Marilyn Hess is the Community Educator for Chenango County. Hess works at the Family Planning location in Norwich on 5 Cortland St. She offers programming in the schools in Chenango and Otsego Counties. Hess also offers individual education in Chenango County, including for people with special needs. She speaks at public schools, human services agencies and tables at health fairs.
“Marilyn follows WIC to all of their mobile enrollment sites in Chenango County. If a client wants more information about family planning, WIC suggests they visit Marilyn’s table while they process their paperwork. She also provides all of the STD and HIV education for Chenango County Mental Hygiene’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services program. This is an important part of the clients’ recovery from addiction,” says Husisian.
