CS-HHC will serve 475 people with SUD or COD over the 5-year project period (75 in Year 1 and 100 a year in Years 2-5) by providing integrated care (SUD and mental health, primary care, and infectious diseases [ID] services) for those who have or are at risk of HIV. The project will target Black and Hispanic individuals in the Greater New Haven area.
Established in 1968, CS-HHC was the first Federally Qualified Health Center in Connecticut. We offer a full range of integrated medical, behavioral health, and dental care to over 50,000 clients annually in Connecticut's Greater New Haven and Lower Naugatuck Valley areas. We serve about 9,000 people with SUD annually. In addition, in CY 2022, we served 333 people with HIV, 814 with Secually Transmitted Infections (STI), 88 people with Hepatitis B, and 460 with Hepatitis C. We are one of the region's largest behavioral health providers and provide direct in-house ID services.
-Project name: Screening and Treatment Offered to Prevent HIV (STOP HIV).
-Population to be served: STOP HIV will offer integrated behavioral health treatment and ID screening, testing, education, and treatment services to those who have or are at risk of HIV. AIDSVu (AIDSVu.org) shows that the City of New Haven has particularly high rates of people living with HIV (452 per 100,000 people), but that underestimates the risk in certain areas. In the 06519 zip code, for instance, where our services will be located, the rate of people living with HIV is much higher at 1,345 per 100,000 people. We anticipate that clients will consist largely of racial and/or ethnic minorities (Black and/or Hispanic) as per local prevalence rates, which show New Haven minorities have much higher prevalence rates than Whites--e.g., Black males (7.1 to 1); Black females (13.8 to 1); Hispanic males (5.1 to 1); and Hispanic females (8.5 to 1).
-Strategies/Interventions: STOP HIV will offer onsite STI screening and testing (HIV, HCV, and HBV, among others) for clients at our GSP care site (soon to be Recovery and Wellness Center [RWC]), which provides Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP) and Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) services, and at our South Central Rehabilitation Center (SCRC), which provides methadone maintenance and detox. Clients who test positive or are at risk for HIV will receive linkages to our ID Department, which provides STI services such as education, HIV treatment and care, viral hepatitis treatment services (A, B, or C), and PrEP/PEP. The ID interventions will be integrated into the clients' SUD and COD treatment services. For those who are not yet ready for a higher level of service, we will meet them "where they are" and provide them with harm-reduction services at multiple points of access. We also will address clients' social determinants of health (SDOH) through referrals for housing, employment, education, etc.
-Goals and objectives: STOP HIV's main goals are to: 1) Hire project staff; 2) Increase STI screening, testing, education, and treatment for clients with SUD or COD who have or are at risk of HIV; 3) Provide clients with access to SUD/COD harm reduction, treatment services, and wraparound recovery-support services that are in line with their level(s) of motivation; and 4) Engage clients in the project consistent with their stage of recovery. Key objectives include: 1) Hiring a program coordinator, clinician, patient navigator, and addiction psychiatrist to implement the project; 2) Providing 475 project clients with HIV/HCV/HBV testing, treatment, and prevention services in the 5-year project period; 3) Providing SUD/COD screenings for 95% of project clients to determine appropriate levels of intervention; and 4) Keeping 80% of project clients engaged at their appropriate levels of recovery at 6 months.
-Number of people served: The project will serve 475 clients over the 5-year project period.