School board vote on Wellness Center expected Dec. 15

Cape Henlopen school board is expected to discuss Dec. 15 adding reproductive health services at the high school Wellness Center and creating a parental consent form. But whatever the board decides to list on the form, state officials say the consent form will not prevent a child from receiving treatment if he or she wants it.

A Delaware law states a child as young as 12 can go to a healthcare clinic, such as a school-based wellness center, without parental consent and receive pregnancy prevention care, treatment for sexually transmitted disease or be tested for HIV.

Emily Knearl, spokeswoman for the Division of Public Health, said Delaware passed healthcare confidentiality law in 1970.

“Under state law, a teen can consent to receipt of his or her own reproductive health services,” Knearl said. “Parental consent is not needed for reproductive health services.”

The school board, however, must approve adding reproductive health services to Cape High's existing services at the wellness center, Knearl said.

Once approved, a student would be able to go to the wellness center and receive contraception, HIV testing and other healthcare treatment.

Knearl said Beebe Healthcare would decide what kind of birth control to offer. This could include condoms, daily birth control pills, an injection that can prevent pregnancy for three months or an under-arm-implant that providers say can prevent pregnancy for up to four years.

Funding is provided by federal Title X that provides money for family planning clinics. Students could also use private insurance, if they chose.

Knearl said despite the confidentiality law, healthcare providers encourage students to talk to their parents. They also discuss abstinence along with birth control options, she said.

Knearl said of the 29 school-based healthcare centers in Delaware, 19 of them provide reproductive health services. Consent forms are developed by the individual vendor – in Cape High's case, Beebe Healthcare – and the forms cover a variety of topics. All school-based wellness centers use some form of consent form for the variety of services they offer, she said.

State law governing access to health information is laid out in Title 13, Chapter 7, section 710a of Delaware code.

Cape Henlopen school board will discuss and possibly vote on adding reproductive health services to Cape High's Wellness Center during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, at Cape Henlopen High School.