The Erie County Department of Health (“ECDOH”) and HOPE Buffalo, a collaborative, community project that aims to reduce teen pregnancy in selected Erie County zip codes by 30% by the year 2020, today released a comprehensive teen Referral Guide that will help link youth to reproductive health, primary care, and support services. The Referral Guide will be disseminated to an extensive network of community leaders and healthcare providers.
“I am tremendously excited about this new Referral Guide as it will provide necessary information to Buffalo’s youth to help them make informed decisions so they can achieve their goals,” said Dr. Gale Burstein, Commissioner, Erie County Department of Health. “Our ultimate goal is to build a more equitable and healthy future for both City of Buffalo youth as individuals and for the County as a whole.”
Prior to inclusion in the Guide, organizations were assessed to confirm that they deliver services in a positive, youth-affirming, and open manner. Building a referral guide was an essential objective of HOPE Buffalo’s strategy to expand the referral and linkage system in the community. It is a tool to help not only young people in our community connect with community-based organizations and healthcare centers that support adolescent health and wellness, but also as a reference for adults who provide services to youth.
We listened to the community’s needs,” said HOPE Buffalo Project Director, Stan Martin. “Although other referral guides exist, we specifically wanted ours to cater to teens.”
In developing the Referral Guide, HOPE Buffalo and the Buffalo community are breaking down barriers and collaborating to build a network whose main goal is to help the teens in our community get the support they need to live their best and healthiest lives.
The Guide is available online at hopebuffalo.org. Printed versions will be distributed by HOPE Buffalo’s Community Action Team. For more information, contact Elizabeth Terranova, Project Coordinator, Teen Wellness, at 716.858.4977 or Elizabeth.Terranova@erie.gov.
The HOPE Buffalo project is supported through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health to the Erie County Department of Health and CAI
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