Friday, April 18, 2025
4/18/2025
Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Address: 35 Medical Center parkway, Augusta Maine, 04330 Project Director Name: Gillian Laplante, Practice Administrator Contact Phone Number: 207-248-0477 Email Address: Gillian.Laplante@MaineGeneral.org Website Address: https://www.mainegeneral.org/locations/locations-profile/mainegeneral-horizon-program-augusta/ Grant Program Funds Requested in the Application: MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Part C Early Intervention Services Program, also known as the Horizon Program, is requesting $150,000 under the Ryan White HIV/AID Program Part C Capacity Development Program (HRSA-24-062) The Horizon Program provides high-quality, compassionate and comprehensive medical care and social services to individuals who are HIV positive. The Horizon Program is located in Augusta, Maine, and serves residents from nine of Maine’s 16 counties: Androscoggin, Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Somerset and Waldo. Eight of these nine counties are categorized as fully rural by the Federal Offices of Rural Health Policy; the other (Androscoggin) is partially rural. Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects the physical and mental health of people in this region. A third of the domestic violence assaults reported in Maine in 2021 occurred in the nine counties served by the Horizon Program. The need for IPV-related services also appears to be on the rise: after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, between 2021-2023, there was a 13% increase in the number of people seeking help from Maine’s Regional Domestic Violence Centers. While IPV can occur across social categories, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) experience a higher rate of intimate partner violence than the general population. In addition to having HIV, there are several other demographic factors which may lead to a higher prevalence of IPV among Horizon’s clients and/or which may result in the need for more tailored support services. This includes the fact that our clients are mainly rural residents, low income, male and LGBTQ+. People experiencing IPV are less likely to be engaged in routine HIV care, and have poor HIV clinical outcomes. The clients currently known or suspected of experiencing IPV at the Horizon Program are more likely than the rest of our clients to have received a late HIV diagnosis and to be experiencing housing instability; they are also far less likely to be virally suppressed. Given these health disparities, the Horizon Program is requesting resources to develop and implement screening and counselling for IPV. We will accomplish this by providing training to staff in order to increase their understanding of IPV and enhance their ability to respond to indications of abuse, including by offering counseling services. With input from our client advisory board (CAB) and a local organization on domestic violence, we will also adopt an IPV screening tool that is appropriate to our clientele—i.e. that is inclusive of men, LGBTQ+ individuals and those in non-traditional partnerships—and develop workflows for referring clients experiencing IPV to community-based resources and treatment centers. By doing so, we aim to consistently and effectively screen our clients for IPV and increase the number of referrals to support services, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes for those experiencing IPV, particularly by increasing their viral load suppression. We also intend to expand the reach of our activities by sharing our knowledge and experience with internal and external stakeholders, including other Ryan White recipients, HIV/AIDS organizations, and primary care practices in our health system. By sharing our lessons learned more broadly, we can increase knowledge among health professionals of health inequities faced by PLWH, particularly the LGBTQ+ community, and demonstrate ways in which IPV screening can be applied in different clinics/organizations.
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).