March 2, 2007
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
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Somber PACHA members Reznik and Maxwell |
The appearance of a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) staffer at this week's meeting of the toothless President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) shed light on two issues of critical importance to people with HIV that have been hanging in the balance for months. First the bad news—so we can revive you with the good news.
No reprieve for Minority AIDS money
Last week, the Update told you about the federal government's plans to temporarily cut off funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI), which provides crucial support to community-based groups serving communities of color. Despite pressure from Housing Works and other advocates, Hopson, HRSA's associate administrator for HIV/AIDS, confirmed at the PACHA meeting that the MAI dollars officially dried up this week. The funding stream will resume in September via a new competitive, request-for-proposal process, but the six-month gap could mean the end of the line for small shoestring AIDS service organizations.
Not surprisingly, when Hopson gave PACHA members the lowdown, they accepted MAI's fate without much ado. Veteran activist Benny Primm was the lone voice of dissent in the room. He asked Hopson if there was a plan to sustain the minority-run community-based organizations over the next six months and raised concerns that by shifting the funding process from a set formula to a competitive-based RFP, smaller, minority-run groups would be at a disadvantage.
Although the Update couldn't reach Primm, Housing Works' national organizer Larry Bryant was also at the PACHA meeting. He got the impression that Primm, knowing that PACHA members wouldn't make any noise about losing the MAI money, merely wanted to get his comments on the record.
Hopson responded that there are safety nets for jurisdictions in need. Housing Works' director of national advocacy, Christine Campbell, begs to differ: "I don't think there are a lot of carry-over dollars to get people through—that money is already obligated for other services. HRSA has no plan and they're dumping it on the communities to make a plan any which way."
Hopson also claimed that larger ASOs could absorb the needs of communities of color. A frustrated Campbell hopes the AIDS community steps up to challenge HRSA's self-serving assumptions. "We take a wait-and-see approach—which programs are going to fall, which states don't have the carry-over money," she says. "We've got to be proactive and make sure there's a smooth transition from a formula to a competitive based process."
Now the good news
The Update has also been reporting on the possible loss of a promised "core services" waiver that would give Ryan White jurisdictions more say—and the feds less—over how their Ryan White money gets spent. Hopson announced at the same PACHA meeting that there will be a waiver to the "75/25" rule in fiscal year 2007; that rule exempts jurisdictions from having to spend 75 percent of their budget directly on health care. The welcomed waiver will be implemented for both Title I and Title II funds.
That's a victory for folks in the New York Eligible Metropolitan Area and in other jurisdictions across the nation where housing, transportation and nutritional support are considered vital services that have a profound impact on health outcomes.
''I am thrilled that HRSA decided to obey the law that grants a waiver this year to qualifying jurisdictions that request one. I am, however, concerned that they may still try to thwart the waiver process by taking their time to create the mechanism to judge and grant the wavier request," says terri smith-caronia, director of NYC public policy at Housing Works. As of today, March 1, the beginning of the Ryan White fiscal year 2007, HRSA hadn't relayed waiver criteria to the public.
ACTION ALERT: CALL CONGRESS TODAY TO SAVE THE MAI
Call the U.S. Capitol toll-free at 888-802-1207 and ask for the office of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and/or the Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus and say:
"We need Tri-Caucus legislation to save the Minority AIDS Initiative — we can't afford a funding gap this year. Keep the current system for one more year — it's a matter of life and death for communities of color."