Knowledge of and access to contraceptive information and services among teenagers with child welfare involvement: A descriptive study across the transition to high school

Katie Massey Combs, Sarah J. Racz and Heather Taussig

Children and Youth Services Review, 2024, vol. 166, issue C

Abstract: Despite disproportionate rates of childbearing among youth with child welfare involvement, few studies have examined whether this population receives contraceptive information and knows how to access services. This longitudinal study examines responses from 245 youth with child welfare involvement (i.e., youth with an open child welfare case due to maltreatment) before and after the transition to high school. The same youth were interviewed at the end of 7th or 8th grade and roughly 2.5 years later about whether they received contraceptive information or education, if they knew how to access contraceptive services, if they received services, and sources of that information/services. By 10th /11th grade, most participants reported knowing how to access contraception and over half of females had received contraception. However, 18 % of females and 54 % of males had never received contraceptive education or information by 10th/11th grade. Schools were the dominant (often only) source of contraceptive education or information for males, while medical providers and schools were more common for females. Males were less likely than females to receive contraceptive education or information, know how to access services, or receive services. Contraception was perceived as, and in many cases was, accessible once youth were in high school. However, contraceptive information and education was received late and was incomplete for many youths irrespective of biological sex; for males, it was often never received. Implications for adults working with this population are discussed.

Keywords: Adolescence; Child welfare; Contraception; Contraceptive access; Sexual health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924005760
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:166:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924005760

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108004

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().