Connecticut HIV Planning Consortium
"I am personally grateful to HWF after having worked with them from 2005 to 2007 as a member of the Connecticut HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (CPG), and more intensely in my new role as a Connecticut HIV Planning Consortium (CHPC) co-chair. They approach all situations with the utmost professionalism and are always willing to do that little extra to make a difference on any task presented to them. Having them as a part of the CHPC team has been a great experience personally and professionally, and I look forward to working with them on new challenges in the hopes of continuing to make a difference in this ongoing battle with the HIV epidemic."
- Robert Houser, HIV Counselor & Tester, Southwest Community Health Center (CHPC Co-Chair)
"As one of the Co-Chairs of the former CPG, I worked closely with HWF on the integration of the CPG with the Statewide Consortium. It was a notably smooth and straightforward process, in large part because of the skilled and tactful facilitation of the HWF team. They listened carefully to concerns and so successfully allayed the fears of the many different constituencies involved that, within a year, and with remarkably little dissension or controversy, the process was completed. Their guidance ensured that the crucial and long-overdue merger of prevention and care planning bodies was successful."
- Mark Bond-Webster, Director of AIDS Services, Perception Programs (former CPG Co-Chair)
In November 2000 in response to federal guidance to link care and prevention, the Community Planning Group (CPG) the statewide HIV prevention planning body and the Statewide Consortium (SWC) HIV/AIDS care planning body began discussions on combining efforts. In 2005, the State Department of Public Health (DPH) (the lead planning partner for both the CPG and SWC) decided to combine the CPG and SWC to create a unified, statewide HIV/AIDS care and prevention planning body.
From 2005 to 2007, HWF provided meeting planning and facilitation support, research and writing assistance, survey design and analysis, leadership development, and operational and communications support to the CPG and SWC and their six committees. HWF simultaneously supported preparations for the CPG/SWC merger, assisting with the development of a vision, structure, and timeline for the combined body.
In October 2007, the Connecticut HIV Planning Consortium (CHPC), one of the first unified HIV/AIDS care and prevention planning bodies in the nation, met for the first time. HWF continues to provide planning support to the CHPC, its three committees, and its 40 members of various ethnicities, ages, occupations, sexual orientations, and HIV statuses. Combining planning bodies has enhanced cost effectiveness, improved use of community input, and created a forum for sharing care and prevention information. CDC officials praise Connecticut's thoughtful, collaborative, and inclusive integration process, and plan to highlight it as a national model.