Wednesday, April 30, 2025
4/30/2025
Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Project Title: Via Care Rapid ART Start, Applicant Organization Name: Via Care Community Health Center, Address: 507 S. Atlantic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90022, https://www.viacarela.org, Project Director: Melissa Bernabe, 323.268.9191 x 4033 (tel), 323.262.6874 (fax), mbernabe@viacarela.org, Grant Program Funds Requested: $150,000, Funding Preference: Qualification 2 – Underserved Population Via Care Community Health Center (Via Care) requests an award from the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Part C Capacity Development Program of $150,000 to support the agency’s efforts to diversify and expand its HIV/AIDS service structure. The goal of this project—Rapid ART Start—is to build Via Care’s capacity to increase the number of people living with HIV (PLWH) in East Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods who are linked to care and provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) within a week of diagnosis. The proposed set of activities will be a Rapid ART project under the HIV Care Innovation category as outlined by HRSA. This project marks Via Care’s initiation of providing HIV clinical care internally, and we are using a rapid ART model as the standard for patient care for those who test positive for HIV. Via Care is an 14-site system of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) located within Los Angeles County’s Service Planning Area (SPA) 7, a low-income area whose population is disproportionately underserved and un-/underinsured, and experiences significantly poorer health outcomes overall than much of the rest of the County. SPA 7 is home to 3,776 PLWH, not including the estimated 700 who do not know they are infected. PLWH living in East LA, who are overwhelmingly Latinx and low-income, are considerably underserved, despite efforts of current HIV providers of which there are few in the area. Rapid ART Start will consist of: (1) conducting start-up activities needed to establish and operationalize a comprehensive, evidence-based rapid ART program; (2) launching internal HIV clinical care piloting a rapid ART approach at 50% of clinic sites and beginning data collection, evaluation and reporting on measures; (3) developing and launching a social media marketing strategy (SMMS) for HIV care and Rapid ART Start at Via Care; and (4) monitoring of progress and sharing of project results with other local entities invested in addressing the HIV epidemic in East LA communities. Systematic and comprehensive development of policies and procedures and training of staff will underpin activities. By the end of the 12-month project period, Via Care will have further developed the HIV programmatic infrastructure it established with FY19 and FY20 Part C funds for HIV Case Finding activities, will have determined a reliable baseline figure for HIV care continuum (HCC) measures (including time to ART initiation) and will have processes in place to begin to assess and improve progress these measures. Via Care’s project activities will take into account the cultural challenges presented, will be integrated seamlessly into clinic operations, and will work cohesively with existing programs that meet the needs of underserved Latinx PLWH and subgroups with elevated HIV risk due to fear of disclosing risk behaviors, lack of resources, the high incidence of homelessness/housing instability and untreated mental health and substance use disorders, and other socioeconomic and cultural barriers to care. A special focus of this project will be to ensure that our services directly address the needs of high-risk heterosexual women, many of whom have experienced gender-based violence (GBV), as well as men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), homeless individuals, and people exiting the LA County jail system—all in the context of establishing a comprehensive primary care/HIV health home in the community for PLWH that addresses social determinants of health (SDOH) in addition to clinical needs.
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).