Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A HIV Emergency Relief Grant Program

Description

This announcement solicits applications for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part A HIV Emergency Relief Grant Program. The RWHAP Part A program funds provide direct financial assistance to an eligible metropolitan area (EMA) or a transitional grant area (TGA) that has been severely affected by the HIV epidemic. Grants assist eligible program areas in developing or enhancing access to a comprehensive continuum of high quality, community-based care for low-income individuals and families with HIV through the provision of formula, supplemental, and Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) funds. Based on an assessment of the services and gaps in the HIV care continuum within a jurisdiction or service area, planning bodies and recipients may identify specific service categories to fund. Funded service categories should facilitate improvements at specific stages of the HIV care continuum. Comprehensive HIV/AIDS care consists of core medical services and supportive services that enable individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS to access and remain in primary medical care to improve their medical outcomes. RWHAP Part A EMAs and TGAs must use grant funds to support and further develop and/or expand systems of care to meet the needs of low income people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) within the EMA/TGA and strengthen strategies to reach minority populations. The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) requires EMAs/TGAs to collect data to support identification of need, for planning purposes, and to validate the use of RWHAP funding. A comprehensive application should reflect how those data were used to develop and expand the system of care in EMA/TGA jurisdictions. Needs assessments conducted by individual jurisdictions should also review/reference relevant needs assessments conducted by other HIV/AIDS programs, such as the HAB Integrated HIV Care and Prevention Plan, including the Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need (SCSN), HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the United States (U.S.) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Ongoing CDC initiatives, as well as HAB’s efforts with recipients to estimate and address unmet need of those aware of their HIV status and the newer requirement to identify and bring into care persons in their jurisdictions who are unaware of their positive HIV status, should result in many more PLWH entering into the EMA/TGA care system. The EMA/TGA planning process must ensure that essential core medical services have been adequately funded to meet the needs of those already in care and those being newly linked to care. As of November 2014, the CDC estimates more than 1.2 million people are living with HIV and 1 in 7 (14 percent) are not aware of their HIV status. The ultimate goal within the U.S. is to inform all HIV-positive persons of their status and bring them into care in order to improve their health status, prolong their lives, and slow the spread of the epidemic in the U.S. through enhanced prevention efforts.

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