Strengthening the Nation’s HIV Prevention Workforce: Capacity Building Assistance for High-Impact HIV Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will award up to $120 million over five years to 17 organizations under its new program, PS19-1904: Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) for High Impact HIV Prevention Program Integration.

The program, which begins on April 1, 2019, supports the proposed new federal initiative, Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. By strengthening the capacity and improving the performance of the nation’s HIV prevention workforce – including staff at state and local health departments, community-based organizations (CBOs) and healthcare providers – the program will provide the hardest hit communities with the additional expertise, technology and resources required to address the HIV epidemic.

The funding will support a CBA Provider Network that will implement national training, regional technical assistance, continuous quality improvement and sustainability for CBOs, and marketing and administrative support (see details below).

By enabling the HIV prevention workforce to optimally plan, integrate, implement, and sustain comprehensive programs and services, the CBA Provider Network will help make it possible to achieve the nation’s HIV prevention goals.

New Program Features

The new program builds upon CDC’s longstanding commitment to CBA for HIV prevention. Each year, thousands of HIV prevention professionals participate in CDC-supported CBA programs. Over the past five years, demand for training and technical assistance has increased significantly.

The new CBA program is designed to respond to the evolving needs of the HIV prevention workforce, and differs from previous capacity building programs in several important ways. For example:

  • It will offer more training options, in different formats and at different skill levels, to effectively reach a wide range of HIV service providers.
  • It will provide more tailored technical assistance services, with an increased focus on responding to local capacity-building needs and preferences; addressing implementation challenges for HIV prevention programs and services; and peer-to-peer learning, support, and mentorship.
  • To better support senior and mid-level HIV prevention program managers within CBOs, a web-based distance learning program will address programmatic continuous quality improvement and organizational sustainability.

These and other changes were informed by a series of consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of CBOs, state and local health departments, healthcare organizations, capacity-building organizations, and federal agencies.

Funds were awarded based on a rigorous, fair, and highly competitive review process that included pre-decisional site visits for the highest-scoring applicants.

CBA Provider Network

The CBA Provider Network includes four major components:

  1. Track A: Electronic Learning (eLearning)
    Training Center
    Funded organizations: ETR Associates, Inc. and HealthHIV

    Track B: Classroom Learning Training Center
    Funded organization: Cicatelli Associates, Inc.

    National Training: A standardized national training program will increase the knowledge, skills, and competencies of HIV prevention staff. Based on feedback from HIV prevention providers, web-based and classroom-based training will now be provided separately, though the eLearning and Classroom training providers will also collaborate to deliver trainings that blend online and classroom learning.

  2. Regional Technical Assistance: To provide more personalized support and facilitate longterm working relationships, technical assistance will now be tailored and delivered to meet capacity building needs within four geographic regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. These providers will work together to develop and implement jurisdictional CBA plans for CDC-funded health departments and CBOs in each region. Each region will have a team of three technical assistance providers – one for each of the following three tracks:

Funded Organizations

Northeast South Midwest West
Funded Organizations
Track A: Clinical HIV Testing and Prevention for Persons with HIV Primary Care Development Corporation My Brother’s Keeper San Francisco Community Health Center (formerly Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center) Denver Health and Hospital Authority (Denver Prevention Training Center)
Track B: Nonclinical HIV Testing and Prevention for HIV Negative People University of Rochester Latino Commission on AIDS Washington University City & County of San Francisco Department of Public Health
Track C: Integrated HIV Activities and Structural Interventions New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors AIDS United Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. (California Prevention Training Center)
  1. Funded organization:
    Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum

    Continuous Quality Improvement and Sustainability for CBOs: This new distance-learning program, developed in response to input from CBOs, will help senior and mid-level program managers at CDC-funded CBOs improve the quality of their programs and the sustainability of their organizations. The program will include expert instruction, mentoring, and resource sharing as well as peer-to-peer learning and support opportunities.

  2. Funded organization:
    University of Missouri – Kansas City

    Marketing and Administrative Support for CBA Provider Network: This provider will focus on marketing to increase awareness and utilization of the CBA program and administrative support to facilitate coordination, communication, and collaboration across the CBA Provider Network.