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SPNS - Special Projects of National Significance (Part F)

The Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program is charged with development of innovative models of HIV treatment, in order to quickly respond to emerging  needs of clients served by Ryan White HIV/AIDS Programs.  SPNS advances knowledge and skills in the delivery of health and support services to underserved populations diagnosed with HIV infection. Through its demonstration projects, SPNS evaluates the design, implementation, utilization, cost, and health related outcomes of treatment models, while promoting dissemination and replication of successful interventions.  The SPNS program also funds projects to develop standard electronic client information data systems to improve the ability of Ryan White grantees and provider organizations to report client-level data.

To meet program goals, funded organizations must contain a strong evaluation component and disseminate information necessary for effective replication. As grantees develop innovative services, the SPNS Program provides the funding and expertise for grantees to evaluate innovations and disseminate findings to the HIV community.

Read the new SPNS Program Fact Sheet

SPNS Initiatives

Current priority initiatives include the following:

Building a Medical Home for Multiply Diagnosed HIV-positive Homeless Populations [2012 – 2017]

is a multisite demonstration and evaluation of HIV/AIDS service delivery interventions for homeless people living with HIV infection. The nine demonstration sites will implement and evaluate the effectiveness innovative interventions to improve timely entry, engagement and retention in HIV care and supportive services for HIV positive homeless populations. Boston  University School of Public Health is teaming with Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program as MEDHEART, the Medical Home Evaluation And Research Team, which will serve as the Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for this initiative.  MEDHEART will coordinate the multisite evaluation and provide programmatic technical assistance to the nine demonstration sites.

Enhancing Engagement and Retention in Quality HIV Care for Transgender Women of Color Initiative [2012 – 2017]

is a multisite demonstration and evaluation of HIV/AIDS service delivery interventions for transgender women of color. The nine demonstration sites will implement and evaluate the effectiveness of innovative interventions designed to improve timely entry, access to and retention into quality HIV care for transgender women of color, a population at high risk of HIV infection. The University of California at San Francisco, the evaluation and support center for this initiative, will coordinate the multisite evaluation and provide programmatic technical assistance and capacity building to the nine demonstration sites.

Systems Linkages and Access to Care for Populations at High Risk of HIV Infection Initiative [2011 - 2015]

is a multistate demonstration project and evaluation of innovative models of linkage to and retention in HIV care. The initiative funds seven demonstration states for up to four years to design, implement and evaluate innovative strategies to integrate different components of the public health system, such as surveillance, counseling and testing, and treatment, to create new and effective systems of linkages and retention in care for hard-to-reach populations who have never been in care.  Populations of interest are limited to those persons who at high risk for and/or infected with HIV but are unaware of their HIV status; are aware of their HIV infection but have never been referred to care; or are aware but have refused referral to care.

Hepatitis C Treatment Expansion Initiative [2010 - 2014]

supports organizations implementing focused interventions designed to increase access to and completion of Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment for HIV-positive patients.  About one quarter of HIV-infected persons in the U.S. are also infected with HCV.  This initiative will evaluate the effectiveness of HCV treatment models in HIV primary care settings, and share best practices with Ryan White grantees and other HIV medical providers to improve access to and quality of HCV treatment for people living with both HIV and HCV.

Enhancing Access to and Retention in Quality HIV/AIDS Care for Women of Color Initiative  [2009 - 2014]

is a multisite demonstration and evaluation of HIV/AIDS service delivery interventions for women of color. The eleven demonstration sites (in five urban and six rural locations) will implement and evaluate the effectiveness of innovative interventions designed to improve timely entry, access to and retention into quality HIV care for women of color, a population at increasing risk to HIV/AIDS. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the evaluation and support center for this initiative, will coordinate the multisite evaluation and provide programmatic technical assistance to the eleven demonstration sites.

HIT Capacity Building to Develop Standard Electronic Client Information Systems Initiatives [Ongoing]

support organizations funded under Parts A, B, C and D of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment and Modernization Act of 2009 to support the development of standard electronic client level data systems to improve their capacity to collect and report this data to HRSA. This ongoing initiative provides funds to organizations seeking to enhance their health information technology (HIT) infrastructure for efficient client level data collection and reporting.  The use of grant funds are limited to the acquisition and implementation of hardware, software, network and operating system components that will facilitate the reporting of client level data.

View Previous SPNS Projects and Collaborations