I'm published...in the smallest sense of the word.

Last summer I interned for the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington, DC.  As part of my internship and funding from the Children's Justice Project at University of Wisconsin Law School, I worked on the legal guide announced below.  You can even find my name listed at the bottom of the contributors page.  Pretty cool!  

For Immediate Release                                                                                

Contact:Johanna Díaz, Luci Manning

November 8, 2011 

Help for California’s Pregnant and Parenting Youth

Health, Legal and Women’s Experts Release Comprehensive Legal Guide for the State’s Pregnant and Parenting Minors and the Professionals Who Work with Them

A 16-year-old in San Jose thinks she has to drop out of school because she is pregnant. A 17-year-old parent in Chico believes her child’s father should pay child support, but isn’t sure how or where to begin the legal process. A 14-year-old undocumented immigrant in Riverside learns she is pregnant and fears being deported. These scenarios occur each day in California, and teens often do not know where to turn for accurate and unbiased information.  As a result, many do not get recommended prenatal care, drop out of school unnecessarily, and in other ways compromise their future prospects and their children’s health.

Today the National Partnership for Women & Families, National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, Inc. are releasing a free, comprehensive guide and companionwebsite written and designed expressly to inform pregnant and parenting youth in California of their legal rights.

The need for such information in California is great. According to a Public Health Institute study, in 2008 nearly 52,000 teens – almost four percent of all female teens aged 15 to 19 – gave birth in California, and many more became pregnant. Although rates of teen pregnancy in California have declined, they remain high, particularly among Latinas who are twice as likely to become parents as Caucasian teens. And the legal rights of pregnant and parenting minors are frequently violated.

“Teens who are pregnant and parenting are at a greater risk for dropping out of school,” said Sue Keppler, Vice President of Education and Community Outreach for Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, Inc. “The California Pregnant and Parenting Youth Guide empowers them to know their rights and start connecting with available resources that can offer the support and help they need. With the right tools and knowledge, many more pregnant and parenting teens in the state will be able to get the help that allows them to improve their and their children’s health and prospects.” 

The Guide and website (www.PregnantYouth.info) are designed as prevention tools to help the state’s young women, their partners and families make the best possible decisions.  The Guide is divided into broad topic areas: “Sex and Pregnancy;” “Being a Parent;” “Managing Your Life;” and “Special Situations.” These cover critically important issue areas, including: health care; domestic violence; staying in school; custody; emancipation; and immigration. These topics are presented in an easy-to-read question-and-answer format:

·         Can my parents make me leave home because I am pregnant or have a child?

·         What rights does the father have?

·         Can I get public benefits?

·         How much can I work during the school year?

·         Does it matter whether I am a United States citizen or an immigrant?

·         As a foster child with custody, do I have the right to keep my child with me?

The California Pregnant and Parenting Youth Guide is a comprehensive and accessible plain language resource to assist pregnant and parenting minors in navigating access to health care, school, work and custody issues,” said Susan Berke Fogel, Director of Reproductive Health at NHeLP. “It distills the intricacies of the law and makes it understandable.  It is also an invaluable reference for social workers, educators, and health care providers who advise and work with youth.” 

Free quick-reference guides are available for educators, health providers, and social service professionals to guide their work with pregnant or parenting minors in California. These guides are available here.

This fall, NHeLP and Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, Inc. are providing online and in-person trainings for educators, health providers, and social service and legal professionals across the state, to help familiarize them with the guides and how they can better serve pregnant and parenting youth who seek their counsel.  Professionals can learn more about the trainings here.

In addition to www.PregnantYouth.info, the Guide features an interactive component for youth and adults onFacebook and on Twitter (@CATeenGuide). The Guide is available for download as a pdf file in English andSpanish, and a Spanish-language version of the website will be live this fall at www.PregnantYouth.info.

The WebMD Health Foundation and the California Endowment provided generous support for the California Pregnant and Parenting Youth Guide.

Respect for Marriage Act

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the Respect for Marriage Act this week.  This is a no brainer for me, and always has been.  This is a country of hypocrisy.  Songs celebrating how we are going to go to another country and kick some butt or declaring how free we are compared to others, when every day we by law treat specific groups of people as second-class citizens.  Several states in this country have risen above the nonsense and made laws allowing same sex couples to have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples.  Having read the federal constitution just a couple of times in the last few years, I am still struck that anyone thinks there is anything in it that provides legal standing for a federal law dictating which U.S. citizens can or cannot marry each other.  (When immigration comes to play, well, that spins things slightly differently.)  The right of privacy is held to be a fundamental right by the U.S. Supreme Court.  We have plenty of examples of case law where the court has written about the sanctity of marriage and this relationship within our society.

The other part of this I don't get is more pragmatic -- how does preventing same sex marriage benefit the state?  Weddings are big business and most of the states who have enacted freedom of marriage laws have reaped the benefits of this racket.  Married people often have children -- expensive little buggers, who consume all sorts of things -- food, water, clothing, entertainment, healthcare, etc.  This causes couples to need more space, which in turn forces them to move, buy homes and so forth.  Add to this family vacations, trips to visit grandma & grandpa, photo sessions, birthday parties and on and on.  The Respect for Marriage Act might just provide the best jobs plan we've seen yet!  And I haven't even gotten to the lucrative business of divorce.

Support the Respect for Marriage Act.  Why?  Because it's the right thing to do.  

Taking a Walk on the Foodie Side

While walking through the rain on Saturday morning (wearing the gortex Lands End gear Putnams gave me 16 years ago that continues to keep me draw as can be), I came upon a little market in the basement under a flower shop at the end of a street of row houses.  Discovering the wares available for purchase in walking distance of my apartment is one of my favorite past times -- probably because it rarely occurs to me to go shopping and then when I need something the last thing I want to do is get in the car.

Now the P&C Market sets itself apart from most of the other small stores in my neighborhood.  First off, it's rather tiny even for a corner store.  Secondly, it's particularly geared towards foodies.  They've got whole chickens that cost $26/each and a pound of ground beef for $9.99, fancy pastas, spices, and the such.  

At the counter when I was purchasing a box of lemon creme ginger cookies (think oreos with lemon filling between two ginger cookies -- delicious with a hot cup of tea!) I was intrigued by a jar of skillet pumpkin sauce.  The owner offered me a sample, which I accepted with delight.  And what did I discover, but SHAZAM!  Skillet pumpkin sauce is the perfect condiment for turkey and what better timing than between Halloween and Thanksgiving to give it a try.

Now, of course, I warned you that this is a foodie grocery store, so skillet pumpkin sauce comes with foodie prices, which most will reject on principle.  Pumpkin is the number one ingredient (amazing).  It's got no fat and only 15 calories a Tbsp, so I say splurge.  Can't find it at a store near you, check out their website: skilletbaconjam.com (oh, I know that lifted some eyebrows...).  

Scarecrow Classic 5K

This morning I walked in the Scarecrow Classic  to raise money for the Brain Injury Association of Maryland.  I am not sure how much my participation actually raised money for the BIA, surely a little bit being that their sponsors probably covered the costs of administering the race.  There are so many walks these days for all sorts of causes.  In looking at the Charm City (Baltimore) runners website, it looked like there was at least one race each weekend through November.  I wonder how many of them actually raise any money.  I suppose every little bit helps.  I think I could become a 5K junkie.  Kristina and I made a resolution of sorts to run this race next year instead of walking.  I've been running a little bit over the past month or so without any motivation other than improved health (which you would think is enough); however, I think picking up a 5K "habit" might actually help me ramp it up some.  When I got to the car this morning I had to scrape the ice off my windshield, and Tom was concerned the race's course might be too slippery for him to run.  So, I best take advantage of the VA gym's cheap rates (unfortunately, not in my building, but nearby) and sign up for payroll deductions to make it possible for me to get into running shape one treadmill mile at a time.