Contra Costa AIDS Consortium Considers Plan To Shift Funds To Maintain Case Management Services
The Contra Costa HIV/AIDS Consortium today will likely agree on a budget that will shift funds from some areas, such as home health services, to maintain the current funding level for case management services, the Contra Costa Times reports. The consortium determines the allocation of the $1.44 million in federal Ryan White CARE Act funds that Contra Costa County will receive this year. This year, the county may use $100,000 in Ryan White funds distributed through the Congressional Black Caucus Initiative for "capacity building" -- boosting the administration, fiscal management and technical skills of agencies that serve minority communities -- rather than the case management services for which it has traditionally been allocated. Patrick O'Leary, a consortium member, said that although capacity building will help minority-administered AIDS groups in the long run, patients will "suffer" in the interim if case management services are reduced. He said that in the past, many of the Ryan White funds funneled through CBC helped provide case management for African-American and Latino clients. The consortium decided that because case management services are "critical," they must shift $100,000 from other areas of the budget to fund the services. As a result, funds for home health care and benefits advocacy services could be reduced, although some consortium members oppose reductions in benefits advocacy services. The consortium's recommendation usually is endorsed by the health department's planning council, at which point it is drafted into a grant request and submitted to the federal government (English, Contra Costa Times, 7/11).
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