Washington Blade - May 10, 2002
Rhonda Smith

The CARE Consortium's supporters contend that the organization is being treated unfairly by officials in the D.C. Department of Health's HIV/AIDS Administration. But other local AIDS service providers said case managers had been complaining about how the program was being operated by D.C. CARE.

Flora Terrell Hamilton, executive director of the D.C. Family & Medical Counseling Service and the CARE Consortium's board director, said "much of the community" was not surprised that city officials awarded the grant to two other housing agencies. The CARE Consortium initially was awarded the grant about three years ago to create the Gatekeeper Program as a pilot project.

"There was some concern about the program," she said. "From what I understand from the HIV/AIDS Administration, they wanted an organization that had expertise in housing to run that program."

Ron Simmons, executive director of Us Helping Us: People in Living Inc., an HIV/AIDS service organization created to help black gay and bisexual men, echoed Hamilton. He is a member of the Black AIDS Network, a coalition of local black leaders in the HIV/AIDS services arena.

"People and case managers were complaining about the Gatekeeper Program because it was not well run," he said. "The health department is trying to do what it needs to do, and not waste money on programs that are not effective."

Valerie Papaya Mann, executive director of the CARE Consortium, declined comment about how losing the grant to operate the Gatekeeper Program affected the organization. The housing program involved providing direct services to clients based on referrals from all AIDS service providers in Washington, D.C.

Hamilton said the Gatekeeper Program was one of the largest initiatives operated by the CARE Consortium. Losing the $600,000 grant in March "has meant paring down a great deal." The loss of the grant forced the CARE Consortium to lay off seven staff members and begin using one suite instead of two at 1436 U St., NW, the organization's headquarters.

"We're looking at [the CARE Consortium's] budget now and have submitted a proposal to HAA for additional funding in another area, strategic planning," Hamilton said. "And hopefully that will be awarded."

The CARE Consortium was created during the 1990s in response to Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990. Through this federal legislation, states make funds available to organized nonprofit service groups that meet specified guidelines.

In the past five years, the CARE Consortium has grown from a 32-member network of groups to a working alliance of about 65 organizations, the entity's Web site states, each member organization works in various ways to improve the quality of life for people affected by HIV and AIDS.

HAA defends CARE cuts

Ronald Lewis, senior deputy director for health promotion for the D.C. Department of Health and the administrator of HAA, said that D.C. government officials, using a competitive-funding process, tried to make sure the best applicants were selected to operate the Gatekeeper Program.

"All grant processes are competitive. Applicants apply and we try to ensure that the best applicant is selected," he said. "Past performance is looked at, as well as how well they are identifying their ability to serve or reach the communities we know will utilize those services."

The Gatekeeper Program will now be operated by other local organizations, Lewis said. Housing Counseling Inc. received the entire $600,000 grant that D.C. CARE applied for.

Marsha Richardson, executive director of Safe Haven Outreach Ministry, defended the CARE Consortium. "They've done the work," she said.

Richardson also said various AIDS service providers in D.C. are "marching the wrong way by not advocating enough for people with HIV and AIDS, and not providing innovating programming to help this population."

In addition, she said, D.C. government officials are "pigeonholing [AIDS funds] to corners of the AIDS spectrum."

For example, Richardson said that Us Helping Us, whose work primarily focuses on helping black gay and bisexual men, is "feasting at the table" in terms of receiving funds.

This is being done, she said, even though substance abuse services for people with AIDS are among the top needs locally.

Simmons, the director of Us Helping Us, disagreed.

"There isn't enough money out there, period. So none of us are feasting," he said. "The District has been wise in beginning to take money from agencies that are not effective or that are misappropriating that money. Safe Haven is notorious for not doing what it's supposed to do."

Safe Haven, which has a $1.6 million budget, was founded in 1989 as an outreach organization geared toward helping homeless people. The group eventually began working with homeless people with HIV and AIDS. It now also offers drug rehabilitation and transitional housing services.

Richardson said Safe Haven now receives funding directly from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Community Partnership for Homelessness. Safe Haven does not receive any funds from HAA.

"We have not applied for HAA funding in the last year," Richardson said. "And because we have taken issue with some of its policies, I think we have been literally targeted [to not receive funds].

"There's been a standoff between some of us who have been silent and those of us who speak up," Richardson said, citing dissatisfaction with HAA's approach to deciding which local AIDS service organizations are awarded funds.

Lewis did not return calls from the Blade this week for comment on Richardson's accusations. Floyd Nelson, a spokesperson for the HIV/AIDS Administration, refused to respond to Richardson's allegations.

Instead, he said, "HAA is committed to providing the best and most comprehensive health care services to the entire community." He said three challenges face the city's AIDS service providers and government officials: coming together, working together and succeeding together.

Richardson and others acknowledged that some of the changes being made by HAA officials are a result of federal officials directing local health departments to focus more on quality control and quality assurance. These officials want proof that agencies receiving HIV- and AIDS-related funds are effectively doing the work they said they would do.

"We have experienced changes," said Kwame Roberts, administrator for RAP Inc., an organization in D.C. that provides addiction prevention services. "These changes are not as critical as the challenges that we face with rising lab costs. They have skyrocketed for us as we serve more and more people." RAP is an acronym for regional addiction prevention. It provides primary medical care, often to clients who do not have health insurance to pay for lab-related fees, Roberts said. Laboratory costs range between $4,000 and $8,000 a month, Roberts said.

FOR MORE INFO D.C. CARE 1436 U St., NW, Ste 400 Washington, DC 20009 202-332-9091 www.dccare.org HIV/AIDS Administration 717 14th St., NW, 6th Floor Washington, D.C. 20002 202-727-2500 www.dchealth.dc.gov

"Because of the increase in these costs, the funding we receive from HAA is inadequate," Roberts said. "We are currently negotiating with HAA to, among other things, increase the amount of monies awarded to us specifically to cover those costs."

RAP was founded 32 years ago and currently has a $4 million budget, Roberts said. The organization receives 25 percent of its funding from HAA. Despite these challenges, Roberts said HAA has been responsive to RAP's needs.

"That has yet to translate into working through the bureaucracy, and the people managing the monies coming back down to us," he said. "I suspect that will be a process. But they have not rejected this reality outright."

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