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Question:
I am a residential counselor at a group home for developmentally disabled adults. We have never had a sexuality policy or sex ed program. Recently, a client with independent privelages perpetrated an incident with another client. Now I have been given the task of researching and proposing a "policy on sexuality" for the home. I have read articles about various methods of sex education, but have found nothing regarding policies for institutions/group homes/etcetera. Do you have any suggestions? Most of the clients that live at this group home have little to no knowledge of sexual intercourse. There appears to be some interest in kissing/petting/relationships, but each client has a legal guardian/conservator and marriage or sex is not an option for anyone at this time as everyone has been declared uncapable of giving informed consent. We also have one client who has come out as gay (he is the one who perpetrated the incident). Any help you can give me or any direction you could point me in would be very helpful. Thank you
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Answer:
by Susan Ludwig: (06/13/2004)
Thank you for writing about this very important subject. Good Policy is fundamental to providing good sexuality education and for insuring that the rights and the needs of each individual are respected.
A good policy takes into account the rights and needs of the individual. It needs to reflect the legislation of the area in which the individual lives. It needs to be written in a way that lets everyone know what his or her responsibility is to ensure that the individual is able to access his or her rights.
There is a good example of policy available from The Association for Community Living, Residentail Services at One Carando Drive, Springfield, MA, 01104-3211 called Human Sexuality Handbook; Guiding People Toward Positive Expressions of Sexuality.
If you are interested, I can help you get connected with an agency in Pennsylvania who have developed a tool for determning consent. I am concerned about you comment that your clients would enjoy being in relationships but that their guardians have vetoed this. You need to check with your local legislation to learn if another person is able to deny a person the right to develop an intimate relationship if that person demonstrates that he or she is capable of giving consent.
Good luck with your work and keep in touch! I would like to hear about your progress!Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team
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