| February 11, 2010 | ||||
In Today's In-Brief:
HRSA LIFTS LOCALLY IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS TO RYAN WHITE FUNDED CARE ACT LEGAL SERVICES For years, PLWHAs have been denied equal access to Ryan White Care Act funded legal services based solely on where they live. Unnecessarily narrow definitions of the scope of legal services were depriving PLWHAs of crucial legal services throughout the country. In some jurisdictions, a PLWHA could not access anti-eviction legal services, in others, a PLWHA could not access RWCA-funded bankruptcy protection services, while in other jurisdictions, a PLWHA could access anti-eviction and bankruptcy, as well as other needed HIV-legal services. What caused these inconsistent applications of a fairly straightforward HRSA guideline? Local grantees in some jurisdictions blamed HRSA saying that HRSA disallowed legal services for critical interventions, including eviction prevention, housing repairs, immigration, domestic violence, adoption, bankruptcy/debtor relief, custody and visitation, debt collection, guardianship and conservatorship, standby guardianship, and even wills. Legal services funded by RWCA However, last fall, under the leadership of HIV Law Project, a group of Congressional staffers, legal advocates and policy advocates, began contacting HRSA to find out why HRSA was imposing such draconian restrictions, particularly in jurisdictions such as New York where the legal needs of PLWHAs are so acute. HRSA officials expressed surprise that it was being blamed for implementing such restrictions and advised that it was preparing a draft policy soon to be released to clarify that the only legal services that are restricted by HRSA are class actions, criminal defense, and legal services that arrange for guardianship or adoption of children AFTER (emphasis added) the death of their normal caregiver. Last week, at the ABA HIV Law and Practice Conference, Captain Hilda Douglas, Deputy Director of the Division of Service Systems in HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, confirmed that there are no additional restrictions to RWCA funded legal services. That’s good news for PLWHAS who have been turned away by resource strapped HIV legal providers only because they lived in the “wrong” jurisdiction. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day For the first time in more than a decade, the nation’s teen pregnancy rate rose by 3%. Congress and the President have taken an important step toward addressing this issue by investing $100 million for fiscal year 2010 toward teen pregnancy programming, and the president has just proposed increasing this amount by 19 million dollars for the next fiscal year. But Congress should broaden the scope of this funding to address the twin epidemics of sexually transmitted infections and HIV as well. Young African-American women and girls especially need comprehensive sexuality education that includes HIV and STI prevention. “If teenage girls are getting pregnant, they are vulnerable to HIV and STIs,” said HIV Law Project’s Executive Director, Tracy Welsh; “It is myopic and irresponsible to educate around pregnancy prevention without also talking about the very real threats of HIV and STIs which are wreaking havoc among young Black women.” Now, in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day we must take this opportunity to fund comprehensive, evidence-based sexuality education. Doing any less is a threat to the health of our young people, and most especially African-American young women and girls. Health Care & Detained Immigrants with HIV/AIDS Detention conditions are harsh for all immigrant detainees. However, for those who are HIV-positive, conditions are even harsher. Human Rights Watch reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fails to meet national and international standards for appropiate care for people living with HIV/AIDS while in custody. 1 According to Human Rights Watch, detention facilities consistently fail to deliver antiretroviral drug treatment, conduct timely lab work, and ensure continuity of care between detention facilities for HIV-positive detainees. These problems pose significant public health challenges as detainees develop increased resistance to HIV medications. In addition, detention facilities do not always ensure confidentiality of medical care for inmates, exposing HIV-positive immigrant detainees to discrimination and violence. In January 2010, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) enacted new guidelines authorizing the release of asylum seekers from detention if, among other things, they suffer from "serious medical conditions." Previously, asylum seekers appearing at ports of entry seeking refuge from persecution were detained until a final decision was reached on their cases - a process that can take years. Because these are guidelines rather than rules, however, they are difficult to enforce. Cristina Velez, a Staff Attorney at the HIV Law Project, says "This more humane release policy is a step in the right direction, but a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of the thousands of other HIV positive immigrant detainees suffering in ICE custody." References *HIV Law Project is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are 100% tax-deductible. BE SURE TO RECEIVE OUR IN-BRIEF EMAILS. MAKE HIV LAW PROJECT YOUR BUDDY! Some Internet Service Providers like AOL, Yahoo! and Hotmail use
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