Volume 1, Issue 1 - TheMeasurementGroup.com

Adolescent SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Adolescent Care Projects:
Volume 1, Issue 1 (January 30, 1998)

Introduction

Welcome to Adolescent SPNS/Fax. Each issue highlights findings from the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program Adolescent Care Projects. These projects have been funded to target adolescents and youth for HIV/AIDS services. This report is distributed biweekly by facsimile machine and also is available on the World Wide Web at www.TheMeasurementGroup.com. To obtain a fax subscription (at no cost), see the information at the bottom of this page. For more information, contact the HRSA SPNS Program: Room 7A-08, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, 301.443.9976.

Programs Providing Services to HIV-Positive Adolescents and Those At-Risk for HIV Infection

The HRSA Special Projects of National Significance Program awarded grants in October and December of 1993 to 10 projects targeting adolescents and youth for HIV/AIDS services. The projects vary in focus and style of service provision, but all are dedicated to providing innovative HIV/AIDS services to young people. Each of the projects is briefly described below.

Bay Area Young (BAY) Positives is a peer-based San Francisco program in which HIV-positive youth on staff provide services to other HIV-positive youth. The projects at Children’s Hospital of Boston and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles are designed to develop tightly linked networks of medical and social services for youth with HIV or at risk for HIV infection. The Teen Outreach and Primary Services (TOPS) Project in Bridgeport, Connecticut provides outreach and peer support to address the problems of youth who traditionally do not use or under-utilize resources due to sociocultural, educational, or economic barriers. San Francisco-based Health Initiatives for Youth (HIFY) enhances the local service network for HIV-positive and at-risk young people by improving the overall service infrastructure. The Indiana Youth Access Project (IYAP) is a statewide organization that provides case management and referral services to, and develops an extensive network of providers for, at-risk youth. The University of Alabama’s Teenage Access Project (TAP) seeks to expand and ensure access to health and support services for disadvantaged, high-risk adolescent females. The University of Minnesota’s Youth and AIDS Project (YAP) works with young people who are identified through the State of Minnesota registry of HIV-positive individuals. YouthCare works directly on the streets of Seattle to introduce youth to services available to them. The tenth project, Walden House, is a San Francisco-based residential care facility which offers a program for HIV-positive youth with substance abuse, psychiatric, and medical care needs.

Each of the 10 projects participates in a cross-cutting evaluation ¾ coordinated by The Measurement Group (TMG), and developed by TMG in collaboration with the 10 projects and HRSA ¾ that examines the common elements across the various projects. While the projects differ from one another in their major goals and objectives, similar characteristics of the programs include: 1) focus on direct medical and/or psychosocial services for young people living with HIV or at high-risk for HIV infection; 2) reliance on case management to facilitate the provision of a continuum of HIV and other related services; 3) substantial outreach, prevention, treatment, and case management components; and 4) empowerment of young people to negotiate the system, advocate for their own service needs, and become involved in HIV-related policy issues.

The aggregate activities of the 10 grantees from December 1993 through November 1997 have been significant. 89,276 individuals have been reached through small- and large-group presentations, lectures, advocacy sessions, and other outreach efforts. Contacts have been made with 12,199 younger and older adults, youth, and people with varied professional and life experiences, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and sexual orientations. 5,208 young people have been enrolled in services across the 10 projects. Each of the grantees has fundamentally improved the "friendliness" of local and national youth service provider networks by increasing awareness of young people’s needs, available services, and state-of-the-art service delivery methods.

In coming issues, look for: the best practices in outreach to adolescents and young people with HIV; the characteristics of youth enrolled in these adolescent care projects; lessons learned about providing HIV services to adolescents and young adults; what service providers are saying about the needs of this population; how to link and maintain youth within the care system; the exact type and nature of the interventions provided in the adolescent care projects, and much, much more.

Adolescent SPNS/Fax is produced by The Measurement Group for the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance Program. Editorial comments should be made to The Measurement Group at 5811A Uplander Way, Culver City, California 90230, 310.216.1051, 310.670.7735 (fax), ghuba@TheMeasurementGroup.com. To be added to the distribution list, contact The Measurement Group. Please feel free to photocopy and distribute Adolescent SPNS/Fax throughout your organization. Subscriptions are free.

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