Title: Technical Assistance Project (TAP): Developing Capacity and Effectiveness of Service Delivery in Minority Populations
Project Period: September 1, 2005 - August 31, 2008
Project Amount Funded (FY 2005): $276,493
Project Director: Yoshiaki Yamasaki

The Technical Assistance Project (TAP) improves the capacity of existing HIV/AIDS service providers reaching African American, Latino/Hispanic, African, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thirty community-based organizations (CBOs) are targeted, with an additional 10 new organizations to be recruited each year. TAP improves the internal capacities of participating organizations to enhance their ability to manage and operate effective HIV/AIDS programs.

Based on organizational self-assessments, the project offers a series of monthly capacity building workshops and one-on-one technical assistance in areas such as board involvement, managerial effectiveness, financial development operations, and staff effectiveness. Organizations enhance their abilities to find and obtain funding for HIV/AIDS-related service projects through quarterly group and individual training sessions. A performance review and continuous enhancement process assists organizations in implementing continuous quality improvement for all new services. For each continuous quality improvement plan developed, TAP staff work with CBO staff to determine appropriate performance measures; appropriate, attainable programmatic goals; performance measures to attain those goals; and a methodology and data collection tools necessary to track program performance. Each CBO receives at least 10 hours of technical assistance for developing program evaluation activities for their organization. In addition to detailed training curriculum, the products include a series of written tools, ongoing tutorials, and follow up materials that CBOs may utilize to assist their operational activities. Evaluation activities include participant evaluations at the end of each individual training session, a consumer satisfaction survey, annual surveys of staff, site visits and interviews with CBO leadership, and a consumer feedback interview process.

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