HIV Prevention and Integration in Family Planning

The Family Planning Program provides approximately $10.8 million in supplemental funding for HIV prevention integration grants to Title X Service Grantees. It is comprised of Minority AIDS Initiative funds and the 2008 Title X appropriation which together fund 80 projects. The purpose of the supplemental grants is to enable projects to focus on implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) September 2006, "Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health Care Settings."

Responding to the HHS Priority on Prevention, OFP has increased efforts over the past six years to address HIV prevention of infection as a part of Title X family planning services. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly evident that family planning providers must play a major role in HIV/AIDS prevention. Inadequate attention has been focused on prevention and clinical services for populations who are now at great risk - women (in particular, women of color and poor women) and adolescents, many of whom receive reproductive health services through the Title X family planning program. Family planning clinics have the structure in place to provide HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling, testing, and referrals to populations at risk; however, family planning clinics continue to be viewed as "low prevalence" settings, and in many cases, the usual sources of funds are not available for provision of HIV counseling and testing services. All Title X funded agencies are required to provide, at a minimum, HIV/AIDS prevention education, including education on risks and infection prevention, and testing, either on-site or by referral. The extent of on-site HIV testing and counseling services in Title X clinics is based on the availability of financial resources, and many are not able to provide those services without specific sources of funding to do so.

Since 2001, OFP has received funds through the Minority AIDS Fund (MAF) to provide on-site HIV counseling and testing services in communities where racial and ethnic minorities are under-served or disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. In FY 2007, OFP received additional funding through the MAF, which was supplemented with funds from the FY 2007 Title X appropriation, and is currently in the final steps of a process to competitively award funds to a minimum of 70 HIV Prevention Integration in Family Planning projects no later than September 30, 2007. OPA received 149 supplemental grant applications from 51 grantee agencies for these projects. Project proposals were required to include plans for moving toward implementation of CDC's September 2006, "Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health Care Settings."