HIV Care Program

Ryan White Part B - Minority AIDS Initiative

Minority AIDS Initiative

The Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI), first established in fiscal year (FY) 1999, was codified by the Congress under Title XXVI of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act as amended by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (Ryan White Program). The MAI includes competitive grants for States and Territories funded under Part B of the Ryan White Program for the purpose of “education and outreach services to increase the number of eligible racial and ethnic minorities who have access to treatment through the Part B AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).”

The Georgia Ryan White Part B Program submitted a MAI Part B grant in May 2007. In August 2007, the HIV Unit received a Notice of Grant Award. The grant is funded for three years (2007 – 2010). 100% of funding is for education and outreach. The primary focus of the Georgia Part B MAI Grant is a Peer Advocacy Program. In FY08 MAI funds will also support the Corrections Transitional Program.

Georgia Peer Advocacy Program

The concept of peer advocacy has become recognized as an invaluable and effective addition to HIV care services. Peer advocate work is based on the recognition that Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) or peers understand feelings and personal issues concerning HIV/AIDS better than medical professionals. Certain areas of service have been identified as pertinent to peer advocacy. These areas include medication adherence counseling, information and referral, skills training, emotional support, self-exploration, goal setting, action planning, and goal attainment monitoring. HIV Case Management services in Georgia are limited in what they can provide due to the large caseloads and the rural geography of the state; and peer advocates can assist in carrying some of the workload. This is the premise of the Peer Advocacy Program.

The following Health Districts are participating in this Program: Northwest (Rome), North Georgia (Dalton), LaGrange, South (Valdosta), Southwest (Albany), Coastal (Savannah/Brunswick), and Southeast (Waycross).

Corrections Transitional Program

MAI funds support outreach and education to HIV positive offenders in Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) facilities about living with and managing their HIV infection, ADAP enrollment, and provision of pre-release educational packages to HIV infected inmates transitioning into the community.

MAI FY08 Goals and Objectives

To provide increased access and participation for minority individuals with HIV/AIDS to treatment/medications available through the Georgia AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

• Provide focused and culturally competent educational and outreach activities/services that link individuals to ADAP services
• Provide culturally competent and bilingual educational and outreach activities/services to Hispanic and Latino individuals to increase their participation in ADAP
• Provide focused and culturally competent outreach activities/services that increase access and retention to Ryan White care, including ADAP

To provide increased knowledge, skills and abilities of peer advocates to work effectively as members of HIV healthcare teams.

• Provide peer advocate training and technical assistance to increase the knowledge, skills and abilities of peer advocates to effectively work with clients and as members of multi-disciplinary HIV healthcare teams; and issues related to supervision of peer advocates and their integration into HIV healthcare teams.

To provide increased knowledge about HIV-infection management, medication management and adherence.

• Provide education and outreach to HIV positive offenders about living with and managing their HIV infection, including a heavy emphasis on medication management and adherence.
• Complete ADAP applications for 90% of newly released HIV-infected inmates that are currently taking antiretroviral therapy (ART.)
• Provide pre-release packages to HIV infected inmates to assist in their transition from Georgia prisons into the community

Contact: HIV Care Program Manager, (404) 463-2453