Indiana HIV Consumer Advisory Bureau - CAB Home Page 20091106

Indiana HIV Consumer Advisory Bureau (CAB)

Serving Consumers of HIV Services in Indiana since 1998
ISDH

CAB Home Page 20091106

HIV / AIDS news headlines provided courtesy of Medical News Today.

AIDS Ministries / AIDS Assist
celebrates 20 years in service to the HIV Community in South Bend and Elkhart

AIDS Ministries/AIDS Assist of North Indiana (AM/AA) is the only HIV Care Coordination site for a 6-county region in north central Indiana. The North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church started AM/AA in 1989, and it became a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation with a community base in 1993. AM/AA operates full-time offices in South Bend (St. Joseph County) and the City of Elkhart (Elkhart County). The main office in downtown South Bend has easy access via public transportation to the predominantly African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods of the city’s west side. The office in Elkhart is located in the central city area that contains the overwhelming majority of the Minority population in Elkhart County.

The mission of AM/AA is to help create a world that supports and enhances the lives of those infected with or affected by HIV and AIDS. In order to fulfill our mission, AM/AA provides services to the HIV infected and affected populations on a continuum of services basis. In 1997 the Indiana State Department of Health designated AM/AA as the HIV/AIDS care coordination site for the region of north central Indiana consisting of St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Fulton, Pulaski and Starke counties. Direct services include care coordination, advocacy, referrals, support groups, nutritional information, food vouchers, supportive housing, emergency financial assistance, and the region’s only food bank specifically for the HIV population. AM/AA currently offers education and HIV testing to groups and individuals at 35 sites in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties.

AIDS Ministries/AIDS Assist started providing client services in Elkhart in 1989 and is the sole provider of Care Coordination, Housing, and Supportive Services for the HIV/AIDS population in Elkhart County. (In 2004 the Elkhart County Health Department discontinued its HIV Care Coordination Program and transferred its clients to the AIDS Ministries Elkhart office.) AM/AA’s Elkhart staff has been providing services out of our offices at 616 S. Main Street in downtown Elkhart since 10/26/01. Our housing program currently operates 6 units of permanent housing in the City of Elkhart. In addition, our agency provides one-time emergency assistance to our clients in Elkhart for evictions and phone/utility disconnects. We also provide testing and educational services at Heart City, Oaklawn, Center for Problem Resolution, Addiction Recovery Center, Recovery Journey, and we collaborate with the Elkhart Health Department for testing at the Elkhart County Work Release Program.

Upcoming Statewide CAB Events
October & November 2009
See CAB Calendar for more information!

The Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau is sponsored by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and is a requirement for Indiana to receive federal funding for HIV medical services under the Ryan White Act.

It is the overall Mission of the Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau (CAB) Program to provide a mechanism through which people with HIV can have meaningful input into the development of policies and programs to address the needs of HIV health services needs in Indiana.

SPECIAL Weekend Report:
Obama Lifts Ban on HIV+ Travel
Obama signs Ryan White Reauthorization Act

What is with the Name Change
for the Indiana CAB?
by Jeff Wolfe

The Advisory Council and the former Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) met this past week. This was a historic meeting as a few things happened.

Prior to last week, the Comprehensive HIV Services Planning and Advisory Council (aka Advisory Council - formerly known as CHSPAC) operated under a separate policy and procedure process from the Indiana Consumer Advisory Board. This created some difficulty with some issues within the interaction between the Advisory Council and CAB and created difficulty for CAB members as they had to follow two policies and procedures manuals (1 for the Advisory Council and 1 for CAB). Though CAB was an integral part of the Advisory Council (the members of CAB - all Consumers - represent 33% of the Advisory Council as required by Ryan White Program), the work of CAB was outside the Advisory Council on its own. As a result, CAB did not have a voice on the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council.

Well, over the last several weeks a select member of ISDH and a select member of CAB have been working diligently to integrate key components of the CAB Policies and Procedures Manual into the existing the Advisory Council Policies and Procedures Manual. After a final draft of the new proposed integrated Advisory Council Policies and Procedures Manual was submitted to the entire Adivsory Council membership about 30 days ago (as required for any proposed changes to the Policies and Procedures Manual) the Advisory Council voted to accept the integration of the CAB into the Advisory Council as an official standing committee.  As a result of this vote, many positive effects have come from the approval of this new integrated Advisory Council Policies and Procedures Manual v2.1:

     1)  CAB is now referred to as the "CAB Committee" within the Advisory Council and is now reflected as such within the CAB Website;
     2) As a result of the integration of CAB into the Advisory Council as a standing committee, the Consumer Advisory Board can no longer remain a separate board - therefore CAB will now be known as the Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau - a consumer program within the Advisory Council. The CAB website currently reflects this change.
     3) The Chair and Vice Chair of the CAB Committee are now voting members of the Advisory Council Executive Committee and therefore Consumers for the first time in a long while are represented with voting members on the Executive Committee leadership team for the Advisory Council.
     4) The CAB and the Advisory Council now both operate from the same policies and procedures manual and therefore follow the same process and procedures for membership.
     5) Better Communication and tighter functional integration allows for a more efficient communication channel between the Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau, which is charged with helping collect input from Consumers on health services and their delivery within the state, and with the Advisory Council's Evaluation Committee, who helps perform more formal and detailed input from Consumers on what programs work and which need improvement offered by ISDH Ryan White Funding.

These are positive changes helping to move our Advisory Council and our new Consumer Advisory Bureau into the 21st century. Special thanks to all those with the Advisory Council and the Consumer Advisory Bureau who assisted in the development of this new policies and procedures manual.

In closing, one of the final items last week's meeting was the election of the Chair and Vice Chair for the Adivsory Council for the fiscal year 2010. Bryan Amador was elected as the Chair for 2010 and Jeff Wolfe was elected and will continue on in 2010 as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council. Look for profiles to be provided in future issues of CAB Home Page News for Bryan Amador and Jeff Wolfe.

Thank you Advisory Council on continuing to make a difference in the lives of HIV+ Hoosiers!

_________________________________________________
Jeff Wolfe serves as the Central Area Representative for the Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau and Vice-Chair for the Comprehensive HIV Services Planning and Advisory Council. Jeff holds a BA degree in Sociology with a minor in Medical Sociology from Indiana University. Jeff has served also as the District/Region 4 Representative back in 2006. You can reach Jeff by sending an email to jeff.wolfe@indianacab.org.

President Obama Calls for $250 Recovery
Payment for 2010 in lieu of Cost of Living
Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security and Social Security Disability Recipients.
For More information, CLICK HERE

Don't Forget to check out
all statewide CAB Events
happening throughout the state of Indiana

Check out our CAB Events Calendar
to find an event in your area

Indiana Consumer Advisory Bureau
ISDH-Division of HIV/STD
2 North Meridian Street, 6-C
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-233-7744
317-233-7663 (fax)

Content copyright (c) . Indiana HIV Consumer Advisory Bureau. All rights reserved.
Website Design and format copyright (c) 2009 by Owner of website. All Rights Reserved.
To contact the webmaster, send an email to webmaster@indianacab.org
For more information about the Indiana HIV Consumer Advisory Bureau, send an email to info@indianacab.org
Disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily those of the Indiana
State Department Health nor the state of Indiana. All information pertaining to dates, times, and information
posted by the website owner are vetted prior to posting.

Website Builder