ARTICLES

Another Kind of Abuse

PP at Mission San Luis Rey

By Allyson Smith

A children's residential crisis center located on the grounds of Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside offers "emergency shelter and treatment for abused, abandoned, and neglected children, newborn to age 18" -- including sex education presentations by Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties.

Casa de Amparo, (House of Refuge), was founded in 1978 to provide help for "abused and neglected children, those at risk of abuse, and their families."

The Casa de Amparo crisis center is a two-story facility located at the east end of the Mission San Luis Rey property. The center is next to the Old Mission Montessori School and Mission San Luis Rey Parish and shares some of its space with Catholic Charities Counseling. The Casa operates a child development center on North River Road and a family support services center on Mission Road in Oceanside.

The crisis center receives children who have been removed from their home or taken into protective custody by law enforcement agents of Child Protective Services. Young children are housed together on the ground floor in a large room with separate beds and an adjacent fenced play area. The second floor holds administrative offices and the area where teen girls are housed two per room, a separate bed and desk/work area for each.

A program where residents accumulate or lose privileges based on their adherence to house rules governs life at the Casa. Residents are required to maintain good hygiene by showering once per day and to "keep your hair groomed, brush your teeth at least twice a day and wear clean clothes every day"; to be "supportive of yourself and others"; to "respect confidentiality"; and to "take responsibility by being honest and accepting the consequences of your actions."

The rules prohibit residents from engaging in "violence or threats of violence," drugs, alcohol, cigarette smoking, gang involvement, stealing, "excessive swearing or verbal abuse," "tattooing, piercing, writing or cutting on skin," and leaving Casa premises without permission.

The rules also call for "limited physical contact between residents, staff, or non-family visitors. Sexual intercourse, verbal harassment, kissing, inappropriate touching of others, wrestling, roughhousing, playing footsies, sitting too closely, hand holding, massages, tickling or any other physical contact is not permitted." So why is Planned Parenthood there?

According to development director Robin Cook in an August 5 telephone conversation, Casa de Amparo does not dispense birth control pills or condoms, nor make abortion referrals on premises. "We do have a contract with Planned Parenthood where they come in and inform the girls of sexually transmitted diseases and tell them how to protect themselves. The presentation does include the use of condoms, but not as birth control.

"We have therapy groups with our therapists on staff that counsel the girls on how to say no. We assist in helping the girls promote adequate boundaries because of lot of these children have never had boundaries set. We tell them, 'You don't have to say yes."

Cook added, "We have had girls who were pregnant when they came to us" but denied that Casa refers teens for abortion.

When asked August 8 why Planned Parenthood is making presentations at a facility located on the grounds of a Catholic mission, program director Nicole Kent said, "We are not a Catholic organization. We are not affiliated in any way with the Catholic Church; we are just renting space. We're not allowed to be affiliated with any religion, because we receive state funding, and so we are not allowed to limit the kind of education we provide.

"We provide the kids with a lot of different forms of education, and one of the groups that comes in is Planned Parenthood (two or three times a year.) We also have a Bible study group that comes in once a week. So it's more about providing them with a wide range of choices, and we are not in a position to make those choices for these girls with their family members and social workers. We're not allowed to restrict education based on our own specific values. However, if a girl wants to speak to a religious counselor, such as a priest, she may do so."

Kent added, "Every year in our curriculum we're required to have sex ed. We provide the information for all of the girls on our teen unit ages 12 and up, but permission to participate has to come from their social workers. The more the kids know, the better they're able to make choices that are safe. Research has shown that when kids are kept from particular types of information, they are much more likely to end up pregnant and with STDs."

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Jeannette Ibarra confirmed that her organization visits Casa de Amparo. "The three major topics that we present are anatomy and physiology; birth control, and sexually transmitted diseases." When asked if the presentations include abortion recommendations or referrals, she said "No."

Casa de Amparo may not be situated at Mission San Luis Rey much longer. According to an April, 2000 story in the North County Times, "Casa de Amparo officials are considering building a $15 million facility in San Marcos in the next three years...."

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