Public health nursing
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Public health nursing · Oct 1999
Issues in balancing teenage clients' confidentiality and reporting statutory rape among Kansas Title X clinic staff.
Through Federal welfare reform, Congress directed states to aggressively enforce statutory rape laws. Family planning professionals deal with many adolescent clients, and their support for such enforcement or willingness to report is unclear. The authors of this study examined current attitudes and practices of family planning program managers (FPPMs) about statutory rape law enforcement, including current reporting practices. ⋯ Kansas Title X FPPMs strongly supported aggressive enforcement, but had mixed beliefs about negative consequences. Among those interviewed, there were also mixed beliefs and practices about reporting. Reporting from FPPMs will be sporadic and arbitrary unless protocols are developed and laws are clarified.