Ryan White Title I
Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) funding is based on the percentage of HIV cases in a given area. The New York City EMA funds exceed one hundred million dollars, including a small amount for Putman, Rockland and Westchester counties. Ryan White mandates the existence of the New York City HIV / Health and Human Services Planning Council, a venue to determine priorities for how local funds will be allocated. Care for the Homeless is an active member on this council, giving input on the needs of HIV positive homeless people.

Care for the Homeless has consistently played active roles on different workgroups, including the social services workgroup and the health workgroup. In workgroups, Care for the Homeless assists in setting priorities for how funds should be used and how programs should be designed through priority templates. Care for the Homeless' workgroup presence assures that the needs of homeless people will not be overlooked.

In addition, a Care for the Homeless staff member is the Finance Officer of the HIV Planning Council and has suggested changes in the Ryan White Title I Request for Proposal template.

Ryan White Title II
In 1998, the AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health developed a three year Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need. Care for the Homeless meticulously analyzed this document, bringing attention to areas where the needs of homeless people had been omitted or not given enough attention and recommending ways to address homeless people's needs. For example, in the Partner Notification Act, Care for the Homeless proposed reporting safeguards for homeless people and others in congregate settings. The New York AIDS Coalition (NYAC) accepted all Care for the Homeless recommendations for this Statement of Need, though not all were accepted by the AIDS Institute. The newest 2002 issue of this statement included all of Care for the Homeless' recommendations that had been incorporated in 1998.

In addition, Ryan White Title I mandated the Planning Council to incorporate Care for the Homeless' comments and suggestions for service changes in their Request for Proposal templates.

Ryan White Title III
Care for the Homeless is a founding and active member of the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition, originally Ryan White Title IIIb Coalition. This coalition spearheads federal advocacy efforts to ensure funding for programs that assist people living with HIV/AIDS and includes agencies receiving both Title I and Title III funds.

Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA)
Care for the Homeless participates in HOPWA meetings, research and advocacy. We also work with other advocates, such as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Housing Works and New York AIDS Coalition, to strategize ways to assure federal and State HOPWA funds.

Medicaid Managed Care and HIV
New York State has created Special Needs Plans (SNPs) for Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS. From the ideological inception of HIV SNPs, Care for the Homeless has worked within the New York City Task Force on Medicaid Managed Care in shaping how these plans will function. For more on Care for the Homeless' policy work around the issues homeless people face in the Medicaid managed care system, see the Medicaid managed care system section on this Policy and Advocacy page or view our publications on Medicaid managed care.

In addition, Care for the Homeless contributed to the creation of the Gay Men's Health Crisis' SNiP TIPS, a guidebook to help New York City Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS deal with the Medicaid managed care system.

From 1998 to 2002, Care for the Homeless received funding from the New York City AIDS Fund for a half-time policy analyst position to look solely at the issues of HIV positive homeless people and to affect public policy to better meet those needs.

In June 2001, Care for the Homeless presented our successful model of outreach to service vulnerable populations at the National AIDS Housing Conference.