• Draconian CDC Cuts Will Cripple HIV Prevention in New York State

  By Terri Smith-Caronia
  Vice President for New York Advocacy and Public Policy, Housing Works

  Recent changes to a major CDC prevention grant program have significantly altered the funding landscape in a way that some have hailed as an important step to advance the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and others have attacked as ill-conceived and poorly executed.

  The CDC HIV prevention cooperative agreement has been in place for more than 20 years and for many states, territories and selected large cities is the major source of prevention funds. The situation in New York State is somewhat different since most financial support comes from state and NYC tax levy dollars.

  When CDC released the funding opportunity announcement …

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  Posted on October 4, 2011 at 5:47 pm

• New York Advocates Share Personal Stories With Rep. Tonko

  

  By Carmelita Cruz
  New York State Director for Advocacy and Organizing, Housing Works

  With the fate of funding for critical national AIDS programs in limbo, eight advocates from upstate New York visited Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) last week to discuss safeguarding AIDS programs.

  The group, called the Greater New York Policy Advisory Partnership, had a clear agenda for the meeting. Advocates argued for the preservation of CDC HIV prevention funding; argued against funding decreases to Medicaid; and encouraged Tonko to protect entitlement programs significant to the AIDS community, including HOPWA, ADAP and Ryan White.

  Tonko, traditionally an advocate for programs that assist marginalized populations, was straightforward and honest. He recommended that advocates organize community forums, …

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  Posted on October 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm

• Video: Beyond Homelessness

  

  Last week, Sonja Tyler was one of three Housing Works clients to travel to New Orleans for an international AIDS research and advocacy conference.

  Ten years ago, Tyler was working for New York City as a welfare fraud investigator. She’d never touched drugs and thought homelessness was something she only read about in the newspaper.

  Then she lost her job, and soon, her apartment, and she found herself in a position she’d never imagined: Cycling between homeless shelters, friends’ sofas and a sleeping bag in Fort Greene park. Lost and depressed, she also turned to drugs.

  “Just the fact that I was chosen to come here means a lot for my self esteem personally,” she said, speaking from the North American Housing …

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  Posted on October 3, 2011 at 6:42 am

• ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 8,512

  

  As of Sept. 29, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 8,512 people across 10 states.

  The number of people waiting to receive medication through state-run AIDS drug programs has increased more than 5,000 percent since August 2009, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The federal government has reacted with little urgency, however, allotting just $25 million in additional dollars to the program for FY 2012.

  To help readers keep tabs on the growing ADAP crisis, we are now posting the ADAP Watch—the document that tracks increasing cuts to the program—each week, and including it in our Friday morning newsletter.

  --> on October 3, 2011 at 6:18 am

• Action Alert: Tell Gov. Cuomo to Consider Transgender Medicaid Proposal

  

  According to this weekend’s New York Post, Governor Cuomo’s administration is refusing to even consider providing basic transition health services to transgender people through Medicaid.

  State Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah nixed the idea before one of the governor’s Medicaid redesign work group’s had an opportunity to discuss the proposal. Shah revealed his extreme ignorance—if not transphobia.

  The American Medical Association says care related to changing one’s gender is medically necessary for the health of transgender people—and three other states use Medicaid to pay for these services. New York used to pay for these services until 1998, when, under Gov. Pataki, it changed its regulations. Lack of access to hormones and other services puts transgender individuals at risk of HIV and …

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  Posted on October 3, 2011 at 6:00 am

• After Long Fight, Police Commissioner Pledges to Follow Marijuana Law

  

  Today, advocacy groups, city council members and state representatives gathered in front of New York City police headquarters to thank the police commissioner for doing something momentous: Following the law.

  In response to growing public pressure, Commissioner Ray Kelly issued an order last week that clarified existing marijuana possession laws, ordering officers not to arrest individuals for possessing marijuana in public view when complying with an officer’s demand to empty their pockets.

  “This is definitely a victory,” said Terri King, a community leader at VOCAL-New York, which led the years-long effort to end illegal marijuana arrests. “For VOCAL, for New York, for society.”

  The policy change could mean tens of thousands of fewer arrests each year, saving the city millions …

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  Posted on September 27, 2011 at 4:21 pm

• Rep. Lee Introduces Groundbreaking Anti-HIV Criminalization Bill

  

  Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced an unprecedented piece of legislation that could put an end to laws that impose cruel and unfair penalties on HIV-positive people in the U.S.

  The bill, called the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, calls for a review of all federal and state laws, policies and regulations regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. It then creates incentives for governments to reform existing policies that use the law to target HIV-positive people.

  Introduced Thursday, the legislation “relies on science and public health, rather than punishment, as the lead response to HIV exposure and transmission incidents,” said Catherine Hanssens, executive director of the New York-based Center for HIV Law and Policy. …

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  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 10:21 am

• In D.C., Housing Works Activists Join Fight For Medicaid

  

  Calling on Congress and Obama to protect Medicaid, Housing Works activists joined hundreds of disability rights advocates in front of the Capitol building Wednesday.

  Amid cheers, Housing Works’ Shirlene Cooper addressed the crowd. “I am a grandmother living with HIV/AIDS,” she said. “Medicaid matters to me because I have multiple chronic illnesses, and Medicaid is my one and only option for survival.”

  She continued: “We’re calling on Congress to protect Medicaid from cuts that will severely damage low-income communities [and] folks with disabilities . . . If changes are to be made, consumers of Medicaid should be a part of the decision-making process in addressing this issue.”

  With the federal government looking to make drastic budget cuts, Medicaid, the health care program for the …

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  Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:11 am

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