@ letters IIITM, Po Box 1078, Richmond, In‘ 05477-1078 or oitm@tonetIIeI-.net Out in the Mountains welcomes your letters. Although we will withhold names from printing upon request, the letter must be accompanied by a verifiable name and address in order to be considered for publication. We try to print every letter we receive, but reserve the right to edit for space and clarity. Letters are also subject to the editorial policy stated in the masthead. OITM Missed the Boat Editor: Your lead article last month on changes in Health Department funding rules for AIDS service organizations was a great disap- pointment. (Health Department Changes ASO Funding Rules, July 1999) You have taken on the complicated and exciting chal- lenge of creating a forum for all of Vemiont’s LGBT community. That article, however, might as well have been written for a Vermont CARES’ in house newsletter. No other ASO was mentioned by name nor does it seem any others were even con- sulted. While Vennont is a small state and Vermont CARES may be its biggest ASO, it isn’t its only one. The Burlington Free Press, The Rutland Herald, and even the Channel 3 news figured that out. You alone relied solely on information gathered from Burlington based Vermont CARES. Had you asked, you would have learned that the Brattleboro Area AIDS Project, for example, was not alarmed by the new rules nor the prospect of maintaining its duty of confiden- tiality in a slightly modified envi- ronment. Had you interviewed representatives from a wider coalition of service providers you would have discovered that not only was Tim Palmer’s position on the new rules not uniformly held but you might have ques- tioned why. I am left wondering if you may have missed some of the most significant aspects of the story without this question. As a community paper, I believe your job is to provide meaningful investigative report- ing about all the important issues affecting our community not to be a mouthpiece for any one organization. That’s the kind of forum we need. Without the hon- est debate that good journalism can provoke, we all lose. Diane Shamas Putney, VT Editor ’s note: Although I would dispute the degree of our failure, the bottom line is that you are correct: the article did indeed sufler from CARES-cen- trism. Our intentions were good: when this story broke late in pro- duction, we attempted, unsuc- cessfully, to contact both ACORN and BAAP. Unfortunately, the change of focus to CARES was neither complete nor completely appropriate, proving that good intentions don't always pan out into good journalism. Your criti- cism is deserved. For more on the good, the bad, and the ugly in media coverage of this topic, see page 4. The CARES Board of Directors Responds Editor In recent weeks, Vermont" CARES has been publicly accused of not being accountable or admitting a review of the pub- lic moneys it spends on client services and AIDS prevention programs. These charges are sim- ply not true. Articles have appeared in various newspapers attempting to explain the_conflict between Vermont CARES and the Department of Health. Unfortunately, these reports have been based on incomplete and misleading information, and have merely clouded the real issues involved. The core issue is confidential- ity. First, it has to do with the right of all of us to maintain a sphere of privacy around our lives that the government does not have the right to violate. Second, it has to do with the right of each of us to participate in public debate without fear of what the government might learn about our personal lives. Vermont CARES is committed to protect- ing the privacy of its HIV+ clients. For these reasons, in accordance with an agreement reached between the DOH and the Vermont PWA Coalition in December of last year, some HIV+ clients of Vermont CARES have denied the DOH access to their files. Rather. than working with Vermont CARES to satisfy their need for accountability in such a way that delivery of vital services to clients was maintained and clients’ confidentiality not com- promised, the DOH made a deci- sion to cut Vermont CARES’ state and federal funding by 50 percent. Furthermore, the DOH gave Vennont CARES less than a week’s notice before these drastic reductions went into effect and subsequently refused to negotiate with the agency. These choices were made without regard to the undeniable harm they would bring to the HIV+ citizens of our state. (Bear in mind that CARES Corrections and clarifications Once again, we must apologize to Scot Applegate. The photo of the vendor tent at Pride Day (pg 10, July 1999) was taken by Scot, not Max Stroud. Also, we want to note that the list of Pride Rally speakers mentioned in the page 10 story was not, and was not intended to be, comprehensive. serves 10 out of 14 counties in Vennont.) In sharp contrast to the irre- sponsible decisions made by the DOH, the staff and volunteers of Vermont CARES have rallied together in order to continue pro- viding primary services to people living with HIV. The entire staff has taken a 20 percent reduction in hours while volunteers have been marshaled to fill in gaps left by the cutbacks. Drastic cost-sav- ing measures have been put into effect and the Board of Directors has conducted an emergency fundraising efibrt to cover the unexpected shortfall. One staff member even took a voluntary 60 percent pay cut. This response reflects a true commitment on the part of the agency to serving those living with and at risk of HIV. Accountability is a commit- ment Vermont CARES has lived by and will continue to live by. The agency’s accounts, corre- spondence and files, with excep- tion of those restricted by client or personnel confidentiality, con- tinue to be open and available to the public and the press. For the past four years, Vermont CARES has had an independent audit conducted of its financial records and its operations. Vermont CARES has consistently filed its reports with the DOH on time or in advance, and those reports have been thorough and detailed. Response from the DOH has not been timely, has not included responses to specific questions as to DOH policy, and, until very recently, has not resulted in face- to-face meetings as requested by Vennont CARES. We are hopeful that with the involvement of the Agency of Human Services, we will be able to resolve these long- standing problems cooperatively. From the start, Vermont CARES has dealt with the Department of Health in good faith. Perhaps it is an inevitable aspect of the system that advoca- cy agencies like Vermont CARES will come into conflict with bureaucracies like the DOH. We hope that the future will bring a greater willingness on the part of the DOH to work cooperative- ly with Vermont CARES in order to serve and protect the I-IIV+ cit- izens of this state. Jane A. Van Buren Chair, Board of Directors Vennont CARES ‘Lois MORE LETTERS, PI8 Our IN THE MOUNTAINS - Aucusr 1999 — 5 llznznezt ” an BED 6' BREAKFAST ’ ’I he grmulcur ufn soullicrn style plzmlaliun. ° A Ir:nvolcr‘s clrrnm fur nuldnur :|(‘Ii\*i|ios_ ' ( mnplclrly l’l‘lItl\'£Il(‘(l by graciously combining I\-u-nliulli century cnn|llii't with lu.\'ur_\', clmrni uml an friomlly 2llIIl)lL‘ll(‘t‘. I9-lllnevohhv flzx(003) rs:-am nun. 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