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HIV Grants

“One thing we have to
take into consideration with the
numbers is that they are cumulative
numbers. and they represent individ-
uals." said Kleier. “MSM were
impacted disproportionately in the
early part of the epidemic. I think
you have to look at recent trends."

ln an article published in
the December 3. 2004 issue of
Morbidity and Monality Weekly
Report. the CDC repons an ll per-
cent increase in MSM AIDS cases
from 200l to 2003.

According to the
“Epidemiologic Profile for
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care
Planning in Vermont" re|ea.sed by
VDH in April 200-4. two-thirds of
new AIDS diagnoses t3l cases)
between 2000 and 2002 were among
men who have sex with men.

“White men who reported
having had sex with men continue to
be the group most affected by the
epidemic in Vermont," the repon
states.

The repon also states.
"The proponion of cases attributed
to injection drug use has declined."
Only 6 percent of new AIDS diag-
noses (fewer than three cases)
between 2000 and 2002 were among
injection drug users.

In spite of these data. the
percentage of funds directed towards
programs serving gay and bisexual
men fell from 37 percent in 1997 to
3] percent in 2004 while the per-
centage of funds for injection drug
users rose from 22 percent in I997
to 39 percent in 2004:

VDH's preference for
serving injection drug users coupled
with a decrease in overall available
funds has meant fewer and fewer
dollars available for prevention serv-
ices targeting gay and bisexual men.

The loss of HIV preven-
tion funding to support the Upper
Valley Men‘s Project also means a
further erosion of infrastructure for
delivering HIV prevention and other
gay men's health services to_ men in
Vermont.

The hardest part about the
way the funding was allocated is that
there were so few MSM programs
that were able to apply, so there are
going to be gaps all over the state."

continued from front page

said R.L7.l .2’? Executive Director
Christopher Kauffman. “The organi-
zational infrastructure isn't there."

“But ACoR.\‘ did apply to
serve two counties and the)’ l\'l)ll]
kno\\ ingly I.ero-funded [us|_" said
ACoRN's Mock.

Kleier countered that the
real issue was that .»\(‘oR:\"s propos-
al to expand a program W)“ was
cunently funding just wasn't good
enough.

“Some of the general con-
cerns we had from the Health
Department's perspective is that they
had to successfully propose a model.

er's note states that the director vio-
lillcs the confidentiality of their
clients. Another note states that
while the Hami Reduction Coalition
clearly understands prevention case

nianagcment. “lt isn't clear that they
really do it the way it should he
done."

The Vermont Harm
Reduction Coalition applied for
$(i5.t)t)ti to reach 36 indis iduals.
\'l)H ms ardcd them a grant of
$fi‘).00U to reach 35 individuals.

"There was an element of
clinical supcn ision involved in this
work that needed to be strength-
cnctl." cxplaincd Klcier. “We felt
like the four thousand dollars that
we avsarilcd extra would go very far
itfinsuriiig a strong infrastructure for
them over the next three years."

The funding allocation

VDH’s preference for
sewing injection drug
users coupled with a
decrease in overall
available funds has
meant fewer dollars
for prevention servic-
es targeting gay and
bisexual men.

tie it in together with the behavioral
theory, and show how it would be
put into practical application," said
Klcier. ACORN did not address these
concems to the satisfaction of Vl)H.
But other orgziniiations

whose applications also had serious
flaws did receive funding. For exam-
ple. internal and external reviews of
the Vermont Harm Reduction
Coalition's application cited a range
of problems with that organization's
proposal: a lack of clarity on how
many people the program would
reach and how services would be
evaluated, an incomplete timcline.
no accounting for supervision of
case iiianagers. and a stafling plan
that is not sustainable. One review-

process was "one of the more com-
prehensive processes that has ever
been utilized for awarding any lllV
grants here in the state of Vermont."
said Kleicr.

New grants will not be
aivriilahle until 2008. Meanwhile.
gay and bisexual men slioultl not
expect Vl)li to begin atltlrcssiiig
their needs anytime soon. According
to Klicr. .should new fuiids become
available. they will be directed
toward other communities. V

Ric Kasilii Kurlrmr is 11 men '.s' hm/I/I
m'Iivi.s'I who .i'/)liI.\‘ Iti.i' lime /)('fH’('(’Il
Slmrr'Iumi, Vermrml uml Montreal,
(,'mmr/a .