Saturday, December 21, 2024
12/21/2024
The YWCA of Western Massachusetts proposed Preventing HIV Infection in Women through Expanded Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention, Screening, and Response Services project will serve IPV survivors from the 26 cities and towns in Hampden County, Massachusetts (Pop. 469,188), which includes the diverse cities of Springfield and Holyoke that are particularly high risk for IPV and HIV. Hampden County has nearly double the state rate of IPV-related court orders while Springfield has nearly triple the rate of IPV-related court orders (1,734/100,000) as Massachusetts as a whole (650/100,000). Springfield has a HIV infection prevalence rate that is over twice as great as the state rate (806/100,000 vs 338/100,000). Springfield also ranks second only to Boston in number of people living with HIV infection. Hampden County has ranked last among all 14 Massachusetts counties on health outcomes (i.e., length of life and quality of life) from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps for the last eight years, primarily driven by health factors and related social determinant inequities in Springfield and Holyoke. The YWCA HIV-IPV project will partner with New North Citizens’ Council, a local minority-serving HIV prevention agency, and the Center for Addiction Recovery, a local evaluator with significant experience delivering IRB-approved program evaluation of federally-funded projects. The project will duplicate the success of New North Citizens’ Council’s LEAPS (Latinas in Action Promoting Health) Network of Care model that targeted Springfield Latinas living with HIV/AIDS. This was one of 11 HRSA HIV-AIDS Bureau Women of Color SPNS programs (2009-2012) that engaged and retained women of color living with HIV in a network of care. The agency also provides HIV Rapid Testing, Prevention, and Education. The major purpose of the project is to link and integrate these resources into the YWCA’s extensive continuum of care for IPV survivors, that include shelters, community-based services and IPV prevention, family support services, and clinical trauma services. To that end, the YWCA will provide the evidence-based Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA) that has been adapted for use with women survivors in domestic violence shelters. On the community-level, the YWCA will support a youth advisory board to conduct HIV-IPV prevention projects. The project will also implement the evidence-based Bystander® In-Person Prevention Program (BiB) and associated social marketing campaign at Hampden County colleges and universities. This program uses a community of responsibility approach by teaching bystanders how to safely intervene in situations where an incident may be occurring or where there may be risk. Over two years the project will serve 200 women with group-level SISTA HIV prevention, 800 young people with group-level BiB IPV prevention, 100 women with individual women Rapid Testing and Patient Navigation HIV prevention, and 32,000 young people with a community-level BiB IPV prevention social marketing campaign on college campuses.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).