WHEREAS, Title I of the Ryan White CARE Act provides emergency assistance to the 51 metropolitan areas most heavily affected by the domestic AIDS epidemic and supports comprehensive HIV health care and treatment for increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured persons; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Department of Public Health receives Title I funding to provide services for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA), which includes the Counties of San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco EMA has a population of 1.8 million and an estimated 23,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, approximately 19,000 of which live in San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, improved access to care and increasingly effective HIV treatments have resulted in a decline in deaths among persons living with HIV/AIDS, which, in turn, means that there are more people living with HIV/AIDS and, consequently, more people in need of services; and,
WHEREAS, San Francisco was one of the first epicenters of the epidemic and the San Francisco EMA continues to be one of the hardest hit metropolitan areas in the country, with:
WHEREAS, the San Francisco EMA relies on Ryan White CARE Act Title I funds to support an increasing proportion of care and services provided to approximately 12,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS; and,
WHEREAS, despite this demonstration of severe need, the 2004 Title I award for the San Francisco EMA has been reduced by $4 million, which represents 12.1 percent, from $33 million in federal fiscal year 2003 to $29 million in federal fiscal year 2004; and,
WHEREAS, a funding reduction of $545,110 in the formula portion of the Title I award was expected, but the San Francisco EMA did not anticipate a 21 percent reduction in the supplemental portion of its Title I award; and,
WHEREAS, the Department has consistently written excellent Title I supplemental award applications, which have been cited by the Health Resources Services Administration as examples of well-written proposals; and,
WHEREAS, the cut to San Francisco’s funding was the largest dollar reduction experienced by any eligible metropolitan area and the third highest reduction by percentage; and,
WHEREAS, in accordance with the priorities set by the San Francisco CARE Council, the following services will be eliminated as a result of this significant funding reduction:
WHEREAS, San Francisco has established an extensive network of comprehensive programs, and reductions of this magnitude will destabilize the safety net established to support the most needy persons living with HIV/AIDS in our community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission strongly opposes the $4 million reduction in Ryan White CARE Act Title I funding to the San Francisco EMA; and, be it,
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission directs the Director of Health to request from the Health and Human Services Agency a detailed explanation for the large reduction, relative to that of other EMA’s, which should include the grant scoring process, final scores for San Francisco and other EMA’s, and documentation on how allocations are made based on performance indicated in each application; and, be it,
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission directs the Director of Health to request that the Health and Human Services Agency provide for a reconsideration of the San Francisco EMA award by an outside unbiased review panel; and, be it,
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission urges the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to use their advocacy resources to actively oppose the reduction in the San Francisco EMA’s Title I supplemental award and to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco have access to the Ryan White CARE services they need to stay healthy.
I hereby certify that the San Francisco Health Commission at its meeting of March 16, 2004 adopted the foregoing resolution.
Michele M. Olson, Executive Secretary to the Health Commission