Training for HIV Infection Prevention in Child Welfare Services (From Courage to Care: Responding to the Crisis of Children with AIDS, P 171-190, 1990, Gary Anderson, ed. -- See NCJ-127599)

• NCJ Number: 127605
• Author(s): J B Annin
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Child welfare services have applied resources toward developing programs and policies to serve children with HIV infection and their families. This willingness to serve already infected children can be redirected to some extent to engage in HIV prevention activities.

Abstract

A commitment to effective prevention can help answer policy questions regarding already infected children including testing, confidentiality, the duty to warn, and the need to know. The prevention agenda requires that child welfare agencies connect education and counseling programs on sexual information to self-esteem development and decision-making processes. Universal, individualized, age-appropriate prevention education is needed to prevent the spread of HIV. These challenges carry over into staff training programs as well. At the same time, HIV training provides an opportunity to respond to staff members' personal issues and collective agency morale. Three aspects are equally important to HIV-related child welfare practices: medical, legal, and psychosocial. Strategies to increase the effectiveness of HIV training include linking HIV education to teenage pregnancy prevention education, acknowledging the fear that accompanies talking about AIDS, anticipating the influence of media reports on people's perceptions of AIDS, and involving an interdisciplinary group of presenters to address various issues. 1 appendix