Pubdate: Sun, 6 Dec 2009
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 2009 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.starbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/196
Author: Helen Altonn
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

STATE BUDGET CUTS INCLUDE HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS

State Department of Health budget cuts for the fiscal year ending 
June 30 include money for several HIV/AIDS programs.

About $40,000 is being cut from Gregory House Programs, Hawaii's only 
statewide HIV/AIDS housing provider; $110,000 from two Life 
Foundation prevention contracts; and $157,000 for the Community 
Health Outreach Work Project to Prevent AIDS.

The position of HIV/STD prevention coordinator, held 19 years by 
Nancy Kern, also is being eliminated and she is moving to another 
Health Department branch.

Health Department Deputy Director Susan Jackson said, "We know these 
are very important services, but we have to look at state-funded 
contracts and state-funded positions" to cut costs because of 
declining tax revenues and the state's deficit situation.

Most HIV programs in the STD/HIV Division are federally supported, 
"which is good," she said. "We regret that we have to make these 
kinds of cuts and we've had to do this across the board in the department."

Jon Berliner, executive director of Gregory House Programs, decried 
the cuts to his program last week at a World AIDS Day ceremony 
Tuesday night at St. Clement's Church. Berliner received the Suzanne 
Richmond-Crum Award from the Health Department's STD/AIDS Prevention 
Branch for outstanding contributions to HIV/AIDS services in the community.

In accepting the award, Berliner noted the theme for this year's 
World AIDS Day addressed the need to protect human rights and "make 
HIV prevention, treatment, care, housing and support accessible to 
all persons with HIV."

"We have failed on this here in Hawaii," he said, saying that a 
Health Department official called him two weeks ago to say his 
program's budget was being cut by more than $40,000 effective 
immediately. "That means people will become homeless," Berliner said.

Berliner said the cut represents 10 percent of the organization's 
annual state funding of $400,000. He said he had to lay off a housing 
case worker and that the program's state-funded rent subsidy program 
will be affected.

"It's going to have a serious impact on the people we serve, and 
there are going to be people homeless with lack of access to health 
care and the ability to take medications is going to be very much 
challenged without a roof over their head."

Paul Groesbeck, executive director of Life Foundation, said the 
Health Department told him it is cutting $110,000 both this year and 
next from contracts for HIV prevention outreach to women at risk and 
transgender people.

"While that is disappointing, everybody's in the same boat in this 
state now as far as I can tell," Groesbeck said in an interview. He 
said he will have to lay off two outreach workers.

Michael Johnson, the new director of the Community Health Outreach 
Work Project, said, "We're trying to make the best of a bad situation."

Needle exchange is one of the primary functions of the $950,000 
program, but it also does referrals, provides payments for treatment 
for injecting drug users, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS testing, counseling 
and referral, Johnson said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake