Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/FreyaLSonenstein

This report, commissioned by the Office of Population Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews research conducted about family planning services between 1985 and 2003. Over 240 reports and articles were identified and examined. With input from 30 expert technical advisors, the authors organize the review around the key issues facing the family planning field today: reaching high-priority populations, strengthening family planning practices and improving the organization and administration of services. The report identifies priority directions for future family planning research and suggestions for enhancing the impact of research investments made by the Office of Family Planning.

This review summarizes existing literature and knowledge about noncustodial fathers in general and, in particular, how child welfare agencies identify, locate, and involve noncustodial fathers in casework when their children are in foster care.

Objectives. This study assessed factors related to chlamydial infection among young men in the United States. Methods. Data were from interviews of nationally representative samples of 470 men aged 18 to 19 years (teenagers) and 995 men aged 22 to 26 years (young adults) and from urine specimens tested by means of polymerase chain reaction. Results. Although a majority of the men reported occasional unprotected intercourse, only a minority perceived themselves to be at risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Chlamydial infection was detected in 3.1% of the teenagers and 4.5% of the young adults. A minority of those infected had symptoms or had been tested for STDs; very few had been diagnosed with STDs. Conclusions. Chlamydial infection is common but usually asymptomatic and undiagnosed. Primary and secondary prevention efforts should be increased, particularly among young adult men. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:1140–1143)

Nearly 20.5 million children with employed parents regularly spend time in child care each week, according to data from the 1997 and 1999 rounds of the National Survey of America’s Families. Three out of four children 4-years-old and younger, four out of five five-year-olds, and half of school-age children with employed .primary caretakers are regularly in non-parental care when they are not in school. An additional ten percent of school-age children are home alone or with a sibling younger than 13 while their primary caretaker is working. This report details the share of children in center-based care, family child care, relative care, nanny or babysitter care, before- and after-school programs, self care, and parent care. It also looks at how child care arrangements vary by state of residence, family structure, income, and age of child. Changes between 1997 and 1999 are examined.

Routine health care for young men does not adequately incorporate sexual and reproductive health concerns. Sexually transmitted diseases are the most common infections occurring among adolescents and young adults, yet most lack knowledge about the risks and dangers involved. Health professionals should seize existing opportunities and create new ones to discuss sexual health issues and provide related health services to teenage boys and to young men in their 20s.

Despite major strides in getting the message to teenage boys about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and in teaching them how to say no to sex and to use birth control, gaps persist in boys' education and understanding of reproductive health. Most formal sex and reproductive health education takes place in school, which means dropouts sometimes miss out on this instruction. Efforts are needed to reduce gaps in instruction by race, gender, and school attendance.

[San Diego Union-Tribune] Usually, when straight talk about sexual activity is forced into the political arena, efforts to have constructive conversations and build common ground disintegrate quickly. But could the tide be changing? If so, we now have an opportunity to improve the sexual and reproductive health of all of our youth, not just young women but young men, too. After all, it takes two to conceive a child or catch a sexually transmitted disease.

More than ever, policymakers are recognizing that men provide a crucial contribution to healthy families. Despite this fact, efforts to improve reproductive health have typically targeted women. To help address this problem, the Urban Institute convened a working group of health care experts. Their goal was to develop a consensus about what reproductive services would best serve young men, and how they should be delivered. This report distills the findings into an explanation of why we need to target young men, why the time is right to address these issues, and a blueprint for launching the initiative.

Human reproduction involves a man and a woman. In spite of this fact, efforts to improve reproductive health in the United States and elsewhere have typically targeted women. But since men participate in sexual decisions and behavior associated with reproduction, the focus here is on the sexual and reproductive health of men in the United States and specifically on young men ages 12 to 24.

This brief analyzes the primary child care arrangements of children under five with employed mothers both nationally and across selected states. Using data from the 1997 National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF), the brief examines the use of center-based arrangements, family child care homes, relatives, nannies/baby-sitters, and “parent care”. The brief separately examines (both nationally and across states) the use of these different child care arrangements for infants and toddlers and three- and four-year- olds, and also separately examines the use of care for children from families with incomes above 200 percent of poverty and families at or below 200 percent of poverty.

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