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Issue #141: September 7, 1997
FASTFAX is available by fax in the 215 and 610 area codes at no cost, or by mail anywhere for $20.00 per year, by calling 215-545-6868, and by E-mail by contacting and type the message SUBSCRIBE in the message section. Sources for some information in this issue include the Chicago Defender, Chicago Sun-Times, InfoReader, Philadelphia Gay News, USA Today.
Commission adopts plan for 1998 spending
Infant HIV numbers continue US drop
Race issues dominate Chicago Walk
Village Project seeks prevention staff
SUPPORT WE THE PEOPLE THROUGH THE 1997 AIDS WALK!
Commission adopts plan for 1998 spending
The Philadelphia HIV Commission has adopted a plan for spending between $13 million and $14.3 million in federal AIDS funding next year, after an extensive debate about the specific uses of the funding among members of the Commission at a meeting this week.The Commission's Care Committee, after a months-long process which involved public hearings, focus groups, and surveys and needs assessments, adopted a proposal the week before which set specific percentages of the federal grant award received by the region every year under Title I of the Ryan White CARE Act, as well as individual "instructions" to guide the city health department on how the funds should be directed. The percentage allocations increase the proportion of funding for primary care and medications from 27.5%, up from 27.1% last year, and reduces the allocation for AIDS case management services to 17.9%, down from last year's 19.8%.
Most changes in other categories were very small, usually less than 1%.
The Commission also retained language originally developed last year, which directs that funding for AIDS services be concentrated in communities of color and for services to women and children.
No increase was made in the allocation for housing-related services or emergency financial assistance, the two most urgent "unmet needs" identified in the Commission's survey of over 1100 people with HIV/AIDS over the summer. Most of the debate at the Commission meeting revolved around how to concentrate more resources on housing and emergency needs programs and what the priorities for such funding should be.
The Commission's Housing Committee has asked that whatever housing funds are available be concentrated on providing direct care services to residents of supportive living programs, rather than paying for rents and other housing costs, which are covered by funding available from the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program.
Some members of the Commission criticized the percentage allocations, saying that the Care Committee had developed them originally only to apply to about $1.3 million of the funding -- the amount the group hopes the city's Title I grant will increase by in 1998. After heated controversy about limiting the Care Committee's work only to "new"money -- thereby protecting current funding levels and virtually guaranteeing that no currently funded AIDS agency would see a shift in its funding regardless of the results of the needs assessments and consumer surveys -- the Committee formally backed off on that plan and applied the percentages to all of the funding expected to be available.
Nonetheless, since the percentages vary only slightly from last year's allocations, little change is expected in how the Title I funding is allocated over the next year.
Richard Gliniak, a consumer member of the Commission, opposed the Care Committee plan because of the process that was used to develop the recommendations and because some recommendations of committee members were not included among those presented to the Commission at its adoption meeting. Gliniak and other consumer members were critical of the committee report for not increasing the allocations for housing and emergency needs in particular, given the increasing demands among people with HIV/AIDS for more money for those services.
Gliniak also noted that a proposal presented to the Care Committee to increase the annual maximum for emergency needs grants from $750 to $1000 was ignored by the Care Committee. He asked that the full Commission add that requirement to the plan adopted at the meeting, but his request was not acted on by the Commission.
The co-chairs of the Commission's Housing Committee, Zahira Soto and David Fair, said that their group will develop more detailed recommendations for the use of emergency needs funds at its next meeting later this month, for presentation to the Commission in October.
In other action, the Commission also approved a request from the city to re-allocate $40,000 in "leftover" funds from this year's housing allocation and $10,000 from other sources to support case management activities and a coordination project for "care access field specialists," a less formal, short-term case management activity funded this year. The Commission also adopted the city-wide HIV prevention plan proposed by its HIV Prevention Community Planning Group, which directs the allocation of over $3 million in federal and city funding for AIDS education activities.
AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) interim co-director, Joseph Cronauer, has announced that the city will re-bid its contracts for AIDS case management, HIV counseling and testing, and HIV/AIDS prevention education programs over the next nine months.
Infant HIV numbers continue US drop
The infant HIV-infection rate is on the decline in Europe and the United States, but the numbers continue to grow in developing countries, health researchers have reported.Fewer than 500 babies were born with HIV in the United States last year, down from a high approaching 1,800. Globally, however, 1,000 HIV-infected babies are born daily. "The difference between what we have in developed countries and developing countries is tragic," says Dr. Helene Gayle, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention.
The United States and Europe have improved HIV testing and implemented an AZT treatment program that helps stymie mother-to-child HIV transmission, the CDC says. However, the methods used in developed countries are impractical and too expensive for other nations; scientists continue to seek simpler, less costly ways to cut the infant HIV rate in those regions.
Race issues dominate Chicago Walk
Members of Chicago's People of Color Coalition, a group of HIV/AIDS activists from minority communities, called this month for a boycott of the Chicago AIDS Walk to protest "insensitive" policies held by the AIDS Walk board.About twenty-five protestors at the Chicago Walk's office asked people to support agencies that provide HIV/AIDS services in underserved minority communities instead of the AIDS Walk. They also said they may hold a separate fundraising event on Sept. 28, the day the walk is to take place.
"What we want the AIDS Walk to do is open up its structure to agencies run by people of color that are fighting the epidemic," said Omar Lopez, director of CALOR, a West Side agency that provides case management for people impacted by AIDS. "We want to work, we want to bring in pledges and teams of volunteers. But they have stalled and stalled and never included us in their board meeting discussions."
Members of the coalition were angry because a year of trying to meet with the AIDS Walk Board to discuss minority inclusion had netted them only one meeting in April. They carried their protest into the AIDS Walk offices, where after a brief, heated discussion, they were allowed to attend the AIDS Walk news conference.
"I'm convinced they thought we'd go away," said Renee Ogletree of the coalition. "It shouldn't take until the month before the walk to discuss the issues face to face."
The Coalition charges that Chicago AIDS Walk excludes agencies of color from its governing board and refuses to take steps to appropriately redirect funds to follow the devastating epidemic to communities of color.
"We've been working on this for a year," said Robert Schultz, a member of the People of Color Coalition. "We tried quiet diplomacy initially. (The AIDS Walk board of directors) tried to appease us through putting forth a proposal for two grants which would be awarded to agencies of color.
"While we applaud the fact that a few more dollars are going to minority agencies, we still want a place at the table. We have identified more than 20 agencies that work in the Black, Asian and Latino communities of Chicago and any one of these agencies will be worthy of a partnership with the AIDS Walk."
Schultz admitted that the Coalition has been told by the board that the issue needs more study and the board wants to put together a strategic plan.
"But we've been talking about this for a year. And if they were serious about making a change it would have happened," Schultz said.
The People of Color Coalition has cited a three-point agenda which they will suggest to the AIDS Walk board:
It will ask the board to initiate a process that would begin to include other HIV/AIDS service providers.
It also seeks a minimum of 35 percent of funds that are raised be placed in a restricted account to be awarded to People of Color-sanctioned led agencies. This is to build the capacity of the agencies, they said.
Lastly, it asks that the structure of the board of directors include board members of whom at least two are HIV-positive. Additionally, they ask that two community/corporate representatives and two individuals representing communities of color be on the board.
"It is a real challenge for agencies of color to get funding," said Lopez. "These organizations organized as a result of the epidemic so they are relatively young and resources are very limited. The agencies involved in the Walk are developed, larger agencies."
Lopez said the AIDS epidemic has moved into communities of color at an alarming rate. "Probably 50 percent or more cases are coming from communities of color, primarily African American and Latino communities, so the resources have to follow the epidemic and it's just not happening," he said.
"We are calling agencies that are doing work in the prospective communities and we are also asking them to provide clients. One challenge is confidentially. But we are going to pull out those who are public to speak on their behalf."
Schultz says the coalition hopes to expand the Walk's partnership. "This is a community fund-raising event and HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects everyone. We believe that the major fund-raising event in the city that impacts upon this disease should be reflective of all the parties that are engaged in the fight against AIDS," he said.
"We are hoping that folks come out because they believe this issues and it's the right thing to do."
AIDS deaths in Chicago dropped 20 percent last year, the first significant decline since the epidemic began in 1980.
In Chicago last year, AIDS deaths dropped 40.1 percent among whites, 22 percent among Hispanics and only 4.4 percent among blacks. Deaths decreased 29.6 percent among gay men, 3.6 percent among people who got the disease through heterosexual sex and 2.7 percent among people who shared needles.
Chicago has 25 percent of the state's population but 75 percent of its AIDS cases. Since 1980 13,256 people have contracted AIDS in Chicago and 8,907 have died. Each year, about 1,500 new cases are reported.
Paul Hook, executive director for the AIDS Walk, said the 12-member AIDS Walk Board has made plans to hold a day-long discussion to evaluate itself, its response to HIV and the direction it needs. He said the board needs to decide how to admit others. He said it also needs to decide if the AIDS Walk should fund the fight against AIDS in Chicago or seek to benefit member agencies.
"For the board to spend time, four weeks before the event, looking at planning how we are going to grow tells you that the board is taking this seriously," Hook said.
At issue has been the board, predominantly comprised of white representatives of HIV/AIDS service providers. Many of the agencies they run are based on the North Side, though some, such as Cook County and Michael Reese Hospitals, are based on the West and South Sides, which are largely minority neighborhoods.
As when similar disputes have arisen in Philadelphia, white-run agencies say that the race complaints are underserved, since they serve large numbers of minorities even though most of the agencies have largely white managements and staffs. Volunteers' efforts have made the walk one of the most successful fundraisers in Chicago for HIV/AIDS services, earning some participating agencies about $75,000 each in past years. This year, member agencies have agreed to take a smaller share and grant $37,500 to two agencies run by minorities if the walk's $2 million goal is met.
Both sides agreed that a boycott of the AIDS Walk could cause long-lasting problems in raising money.
Danyel Green, who has HIV and lives in housing that is supported by the AIDS Walk, said, "I feel there must be some other way this can be solved than a boycott. If there is a boycott and we don't get the funds, does that mean I have to be homeless again? I don't qualify for other funding. Hooks was told that protesters have adhered stickers to AIDS Walk advertising on buses and trains and all over town that state the AIDS Walk discriminates.
The tactic, he said, will keep some from participating and will hurt the walk's ability to meet its $2 million goal.
Coalition representatives said that they were not particularly concerned about the negative impact of the boycott on the Walk's fundraising efforts, since they claim that few people of color benefit from the proceeds. They said that Chicago AIDS administrators are "in denial" about the nature of the epidemic in minority communities and that the publicity drawn from the boycott would heighten awareness and support from minority communities.
Hook, the Walk director, said he would let the Coalition know about the outcome of the board's meeting "but I don't think at this point you can avoid a boycott."
Hook said. "I know that there are people taking down posters on the South Side and I know we're being charged with racism. The question now is how large a boycott?"
Hook said in an attempt to improve the event for next year, the board of directors over the next six months will look at board expansion.
"We'll need to look at how we can include other voices in the management structure. There are a wide variety of choices to spread the funds throughout the city," Hook said. "They're looking at all the options and part of that planning process is to receive external input from the community at large."
Ogletree, of the People of Color Coalition, said, "We have to continue educating and informing people and we want to remain hopeful that changes will occur. This is a boycott of AIDS Walk, but its definitely not a boycott of people donating their money to the individual agencies."
Judge upholds Scott verdict
U.S. District Judge Louis Bechtle has upheld the verdict of an all-white jury earlier this year, which found that Richard Scott, an aide to health commissioner Estelle Richman, had discriminated against four African American employees while he was director of the city's AIDS office in 1993-1994.City lawyers, representing Scott, had appealed the decision, claiming that the jury had not acted on the evidence in their decision.
Bechtle affirmed the jury's decision, and awarded over $207,000 to the plaintiffs in the case to help them cover their legal fees. He reduced the damages awarded to the four plaintiffs by $5,000 (from about $25,000), because of a technicality regarding one of the plaintiff's claims. The guilty verdict in that plaintiff's case remains in place, however.
City officials have said that their defense of Scott has already cost taxpayers over $500,000, and they may appeal Bechtle's new decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Scott, who was relieved of his duties as AACO director in 1994, was transferred from the position of the health commissioner's chief of staff several weeks ago. He now works in an unclear capacity in the city's worker's compensation clinic.
Scott also faces another trial this month. Cecil Hankins, another former AACO employee who is African American, has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit saying that Scott and former health commissioner Robert Ross conspired to violate the city's civil service procedures in order to deny him a promotion to AACO director in 1993, so that Scott could get the position.
In a related matter, AACO AIDS Education Director Kevin Green, whose promotion to that position over several African American AACO staffers led to the first discrimination case, is said to have falsified his employment application when he applied for two cit jobs during Scott's tenure as AACO director, in court papers filed by the AACO plaintiffs while Bechtle was considering the city's appeal. Neither Green nor city officials have commented on the charge.
The plaintiffs allege that Green submitted false information on his applications when seeking an AACO job in 1991, and the promotion in 1993.
At the time of his Aug. 30, 1991, application for the AACO job, Green was working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was based in Philadelphia, according to a report in the Philadelphia Gay News.
PGN said that Green applied for a CDC promotion to "public health adviser" almost two months after submitting a city job application stating that he held the title for two years, according to plaintiffs.
In his city Application for Civil Service Employment, Green listed his CDC title as public health adviser during a two-year period beginning September 1989, PGN said. However, his Oct. 16, 1991, CDC Application for Federal Employment, in which he applied for public health adviser, lists his title as public health associate for the same period, according to the plaintiffs.
He left the CDC two weeks later, and began working at AACO on Nov. 4, 1991, according to court documents.
"There is no documentary evidence that Mr. Green ever held the position of public health adviser for two weeks, let alone two years," said Cliff Boardman, attorney for the plaintiffs. "He applied for it two months after stating on a city application that he'd been holding the position for two years."
Boardman said plaintiffs soon will file requests with the city's personnel office and white-collar union, asking that Green be dismissed from city employment, and that his job be re-opened for competition.
Plaintiff James Roberts told PGN that Green either should resign or be removed from his position.
"To me, Kevin Green has two strikes against him," Roberts said. "It appears that Kevin falsified his credentials, and that Mr. Scott gave him an inappropriate promotion. He [Green] knew he had an obligation to tell the truth when he signed his application for civil-service employment."
Village Project seeks prevention staff
The Village Project, the first major collaboration among AIDS service organizations to provide individualized "HIV prevention case management" to sexual minority men of color at high risk of HIV infection, is seeking a supervisor and four Prevention Case Managers for the program, to begin in October.We The People has received a $244,000 annual grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for a three-year program aimed at working directly with individual gay men of color to help them address behavioral or other issues that may result in their being infected with HIV. The program promises to provide counseling and risk reduction education and link individuals to social and health care services they may need to address problems leading to high-risk behaviors.
While We The People will manage and supervise the project, the four organizations serving gay men of color in Philadelphia -- The Colours Organization and Unity, Inc., serving African American men; the Gay and Lesbian AIDS Education Initiative, serving Latino men; and AIDS Services in Asian Communities, serving Asian and Pacific Islander men -- will each have an on-site case manager to provide direct services.
We The People and the four organizations are seeking a Prevention Case Management Coordinator and a Prevention Case Manager to work at each of the four collaborating organizations.
For more information on applying for the positions, contact We The People at 215-545-6868 or any of the collaborating groups.
Meanwhile, Intercultural Family Services has also received a CDC grant for an HIV awareness program targeted to Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and is seeking a coordinator for the effort. For more information, call 215-386-1298.
SUPPORT WE THE PEOPLE THROUGH THE 1997 AIDS WALK!
The annual Philadelphia AIDS Walk takes place on Sunday, October 19, 1997 and is a great opportunity for everyone to raise money to support and fund AIDS services in the Philadelphia region.We The People Living with AIDS/HIV of the Delaware Valley would love it if you would join our team, whether you're a member of We The People, a friend of people living with HIV/AIDS, or just someone who'd like to help.
The AIDS Fund, which sponsors Philadelphia's annual AIDS Walk, last year raised $35,000 for We The People's LifeSavers Fund, which provides emergency assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS, and another $55,000 for our ongoing support services for low-income and homeless people with HIV disease. Over a million dollars was raised for over sixty other critically-needed AIDS services in the Philadelphia region as well.
Won't you help? We're Team #33, and you can register NOW at We The People's Life Center, 425 South Broad Street, or on the web at http://www.CritPath.Org/aidsfund/indreg.html.
And if you can't walk, please make a donation anyway. Checks can be written to the "AIDS Fund" and sent directly to the AIDS Fund office at 1227 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Please remember to mention We The People or Team #33 on your check.
If you do want to walk, the event starts (rain or shine) at the Eakins Oval on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Sign-in and Opening Ceremonies begin at 9 AM; the Walk starts promptly at 11 AM.
Register NOW to walk and raise money to fight AIDS and support people with HIV or AIDS! For more information, call 215-545-6868 or email aidsfund@critpath.org or wtp@critpath.org.
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