Introduction

CDC requirements and suggestions regarding community planning evaluation are discussed at length in CDC’s announcements for health department HIV prevention funding. There are two data sets already required of CDC health department grantees are reports on the community planning groups’ composition and on allocation of CDC funds to particular interventions and populations. For reference purposes, the requested forms for these data sets–the Profile of Community Planning Group Members and the Table of Estimated Expenditures for HIV Prevention–are featured in this chapter’s appendix and summarized below. Therefore, no additional evaluation activities are discussed in this guidance.

Grantees are encouraged to participate in other efforts to evaluate community planning. Ideas and resources for doing so are provided in Chapter 2 of Evaluating CDC-funded Health Department HIV Prevention Programs–Volume 2: Supplemental Handbook.

CDC Requirements for Evaluating HIV Prevention Community Planning

The CDC requests stated in Announcement 99004 include the following:

1. Health department grantees are encouraged to document the implementation of HIV prevention community planning in their jurisdictions. In addition, community planning evaluation activities conducted by the health department and community planning group(s) should attempt to describe and assess these and other aspects pertaining to implementation of the initiative:
   1. Recruitment of community planning group members and representation of affected communities and areas of expertise on the community planning group (Community Planning Core Objectives 1 and 2).
   2. Application of a needs assessment and an epidemiologic profile to determine target groups and HIV prevention strategies (Community Planning Core Objective 3).
   3. Application of scientific knowledge in the selection and formulation of intervention strategies (Community Planning Core Objective 4).
   4. Development of goals and measurable objectives for the planning process and progress toward meeting the objectives.
   5. Assessment of the cost of the process.
   6. Assessment of the extent to which resources allocated by the health department match the epidemiologic profile.
2. Health department grantees should ensure that community planning groups reflect the diversity of the epidemic in the jurisdiction, and that expertise in epidemiology, behavioral science, health planning and evaluation are included in the process. This includes the following:
   1. Summarize the characteristics and expertise represented by members of the community planning groups over the past 12 months in terms of age, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic and metropolitan statistical area (MSA)-size distribution (urban and rural residence), and risk for HIV infection. (Use of the Profile of Community Planning Group Members in this chapter’s appendix is requested.) Discuss any gaps in representation and approaches that have been used during the past 12 months to address the gaps. Briefly describe any methods used to obtain input from outside group membership.
      Note: Do not include any information that might link HIV status to any individual.
   2. Describe planned activities for the next 12 months including plans for addressing any gaps in representation.
3. CDC suggests that grantees complete the Table of Estimated Expenditures for HIV Prevention (in this chapter’s appendix), indicating HIV prevention allocations by intervention, population, and race/ethnicity. These data are used to report to federal policymakers about the use of tax dollars and about targeted programs. In addition, these data help CDC and its grantees justify the need for additional support.

   Note: Following receipt of awards, additional budgetary information may be requested.