Free Clinic Closes Program for Teens

In the face of steep cuts in state family planning money, the South Bay Free Clinic closed its 10-year-old Teen Advocate program Friday. Its peer counselors gave school presentations on pregnancy prevention and counseling on such problems as drug abuse, suicide and communicating with parents.

The Hermosa Beach-based program, which the clinic said reached 7,000 students a year, has received $45,000 a year.

In a related move, the clinic asked the South Bay Hospital District for $226,600 over two years to continue family planning medical services, including family planning, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy counseling and physical examinations. None of the money would be used for Teen Advocates.

The free clinic, which has sites in Manhattan Beach and Gardena as well as a mental health program in Redondo Beach, expects to lose as much as $350,000 in family planning and matching grant money as a result of Gov. George Deukmejian’s two-thirds cut in the state family planning budget in July, said Craig A. Vincent-Jones, the clinic’s development officer.