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Chicago HIV Prevention
STI Testing Pilot Project
Our Local Education Agency (LEA), the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), have partnered with the Chicago Department of Public Health to test all 11th and 12th grade students in our school district for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
In February 2009 a 6-school STI testing pilot project began. The schools were selected based on whether they have a School-based Health Center within them and if they’re in a community with high rates of STIs. The project has been modeled after the Philadelphia School District testing process. Students receive 20-30 minutes of education about STIs and the testing process, and then they all receive a brown paper bag with a test cup for urine collection.
All students are then dismissed to monitored restrooms where they can choose to participate in the test or not. Once they emerge from the restroom with their brown paper bag they turn it in to a Chicago Department of Public Health representative where they receive brief counseling, they can ask questions and they receive further instructions about getting their test results and accessing health care facilities. The Chicago Public Schools are responsible for school coordination and providing educational assistance during the process.
We began our testing in three high schools located in the zip code area with the 2nd highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the city. The total student population of those three schools is 779. We were able to educate 388 of those students, and 278 of them went through with the testing. Of the students that tested, 27 tested positive for chlamydia and gonorrhea (24 chlamydia and 3 gonorrhea).
