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The
E-Newsletter of the National AIDS Housing Coalition |
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Summer 2005 |
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Contents 1. HOPWA Appropriations Update 2. NAHC Convenes National Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit 3. AIDS Housing Training Institute at NAEH Conference 4. Affordable Housing Fund Update 5. Second Chance Act 6. CDC Estimates That Over One Million People Are Living With HIV or AIDS in the U.S. 7. The Campaign to End AIDS 8. Calendar of Events 9. Join NAHC!
HIV/AIDS & Housing Facts of the Quarter: Recent research has shown that there is a reduction in HIV infection risk with improved housing status. The cost of HIV prevention methods, including housing, is dwarfed by the savings realized by preventing infections: The estimated lifetime medical treatment cost of each new HIV infection is $155,000 to $195,000.
HIV prevention
strategies,
including providing
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1. HOPWA Appropriations Update NAHC has been closely monitoring the recent FY2006 Appropriations legislation in both houses of congress. The funding level for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program is still uncertain and NAHC has been aggressively advocating for the highest possible level of the program. The House Appropriations Subcommittee that handles HUD originally approved $285 million for the program, but with a bi-partisan effort from Representative Nadler (D-8th NY) and Representative Shays, (R-4th CT) the House HOPWA funding level was increased to $290 million (H.R. 3058) without a recorded vote. On July 19th, the Senate Subcommittee appropriated a disappointing $282 million for HOPWA—a number which reflects only current services and is $13 million less than the $295 million HOPWA funding level in FY2004. Thanks to the efforts of Senator Durbin, (D-IL) who worked with Committee leadership, the Full Committee approved a funding level of $287 million on July 21st. The bill is expected to go the Senate floor after the August recess. Senator Durbin and his staff indicated that they will continue working to ensure a higher funding level for the program when the bill goes to Conference in early Fall. Thanks to those of you who contacted your Senators’ and Representative’s offices over the past month requesting that they support greater funding for HOPWA! For more information about the HOPWA program, visit www.nationalaidshousing.org/advocacy.htm.
2. NAHC Convenes National Housing and HIV/AIDS Research SummitOn June 11 and 12, NAHC convened the first National Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit, An Examination of the Role of Housing in the HIV/AIDS Continuum of Care and of Housing Status as a Determinant of Individual and Community Health, at Emory University in Atlanta, GA immediately preceding the CDC’s HIV Prevention Conference. Researchers and policy experts came from around the country to participate in this innovative event. During the first day of the Summit, leading researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS and housing presented on their recent work in a series of panels: · Epidemiological overview of housing status and HIV/AIDS · Housing as an HIV prevention intervention · Housing and HIV treatment access, adherence, and outcomes On Sunday, HIV housing providers, consumers, and advocates joined the group for a Community Discussion. NAHC plans to use the presented research as an advocacy tool to demonstrate to policy-makers that housing is an effective HIV prevention method and a vital healthcare tool for those already infected. Some powerful findings from the research include: · Between 40% and 60% of people living with AIDS have a lifetime experience of homelessness or housing instability. · People experiencing homelessness have a HIV infection rate that is roughly ten times that of the general population. Plans to build on the Research Summit with additional events and publications are now underway.
Click here
for a
complete summary of the Research Summit on our website. 3. AIDS Housing Training Institute at NAEH ConferenceOn July 11, NAHC hosted an AIDS Housing Training Institute at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Fifty people participated in the all-day institute which focused on using AIDS housing research, evaluation, and advocacy tools to maximize community resources.
A grant from the Fannie Mae Foundation supported the Institute and
allowed NAHC to bring AIDS Housing Consumers from states as varied
as Missouri, Connecticut, and Mississippi to participate in the
Institute. The consumer advocates also attended the following two
days of the conference and made advocacy visits to key members of
Congress, requesting increased funding for the HOPWA program. 4. Affordable Housing Fund UpdateAIDS housing providers join other low income housing providers in urging the adoption of an Affordable Housing Fund as a component of pending legislation to regulate the Government Supported Enterprises (GSEs) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Affordable Housing Fund would be a deeply targeted dedicated source of funding for low income housing production, rehabilitation and preservation funded by post-tax profits of the GSEs or some other agreed upon metric. It is projected that for the first several years the Fund could yield up to $600 million annually and reach as high as $1 billion thereafter.
The Senate Banking Committee plans to mark-up
the GSE regulation bill on July 28. However, the pending bill, S.
190 (changed considerably since introduction), does not include an
Affordable Housing Fund as members from each side of the aisle
continue to work towards compromise legislation that can garner the
support needed to favorably report the measure to the full Senate.
For more information on the Affordable Housing Fund visit the
website of the
National Housing Trust Fund Campaign.
NAHC is an organizational endorser of H.R. 1704, the Second Chance Act of 2005: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention, now pending before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. This measure authorizes a range of comprehensive services to assist the thousands of individuals leaving prisons and jails nationwide each year – including those coping with the effects of HIV/AIDS as they reintegrate into their communities. It is estimated that the incidence of confirmed AIDS has grown to be five times higher in prison than in the general population and incidences of HIV are estimated to be between 10 and 14 percent higher. The housing-specific provisions, though modest, are an important beginning. They include authorization of a demonstration to assist those returning in securing permanent housing and expanding the use of reentry courts to coordinate delivery of community services to offenders including housing assistance. A federal study of the barriers to admission to the federal housing programs as well as the impact of evictions would be required one year from enactment. For more information on the Second Chance Act visit NAHC’s website or the Open Society Institute’s Policy Center.
Companion legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate
soon. 6. CDC Estimates That Over One Million People Are living with HIV or AIDS in the U.S. In mid-June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated numbers relating to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is now estimated that between 1.039 and 1.185 million people are HIV positive in the United States, the highest number in history. They also estimate that nearly half of these cases are among African Americans and that 25% of people who are infected are unaware of their status. View the CDC's "A Glance at the HIV/AIDS Epidemic" fact sheet summarizing the new estimates. AIDS
Housing of Washington reported that one-third to one-half of those
living with HIV/AIDS are homeless, incapable of affording their
current housing, or at impending risk of homelessness. 7. The Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA)Plans are well underway for a C2EA caravan, originating in nine U.S. cities, to travel across the county this Fall, ending Washington, DC for five days of action. To learn more with the campaign or to find out what’s happening in your community, visit: www.endaidsnow.org.
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