Planning Task Force | Ending the HIV Epidemic

Developing The Plan

EHE Planning Task Force

Background

In February 2019, the President announced the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) in America Initiative. The initiative leverages data, tools and resources to reduce new HIV infections by 90-percent over the next 10 years. Marion County is one of the jurisdictions identified for which the State of Indiana will receive funds specific to this initiative. The current funding awarded to the Indiana Department of Health gave the county nearly one year to plan its response.

Dr. Kristina Box, Health Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Health, and Dr. Virginia A. Caine, Director of the Marion County Public Health Department, both made this one of their top priorities and spearheaded the Marion County response with technical assistance from Angela White, Senior Consultant and CEO of Johnson, Grossnickle & Associates (JGA), and Jason Grisell, President and CEO of The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis.

To meet the CDC requirement of developing a community informed plan, an EHE TaskForce was created with four co-chairs guiding the process. This TaskForce met monthly to evaluate information as it became available through epidemiology reporting, needs assessment review and focus group/key informant interviews that took place over several months. If TaskForce members were not able to participate in a monthly convening, we have added links to a recording of the meeting for later viewing.

Community

In early 2020, the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) contracted with The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis (THFGI) and through THFGI the consulting firm Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates (JGA) to lead and facilitate the EHE needs assessment and consultation process for Marion County.

THFGI

The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis (THFGI) is a private foundation that supports health-related projects and organizations that serve the community’s most vulnerable citizens. The Health Foundation is a trusted independent community-centered grant maker with a long commitment to funding programs focused on HIV prevention and emergency financial assistance for people in need. The Health Foundation began making grants for HIV/AIDS in 1990 and to date has granted more than $30 million to HIV/AIDS service organizations and community health providers across Indiana.

JGA

Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates (JGA) is a consultant team dedicated to strengthening and empowering not-for-profit organizations and philanthropic grant making initiatives to make the world a better place. The JGA team has extensive experience in strategic planning, research and community engagement in greater Indianapolis and a strong commitment to community engagement, pluralism and advancement of health and social and economic opportunity.

Task Force

Task Force Engagement Group discussions

A 47-member Task Force was convened to guide the planning process and provide input throughout the process. As a part of its role, four small engagement groups, organized by EHE Pillar and comprised of ten or fewer task force members in each group, were called together during late August to encourage interactive in-person discussion on the four EHE pillars and related issues. This elicited helpful observations and insights.

Open review and discussion of the full draft EHE Plan

Finally, a full compiled draft of the Marion County EHE Plan was developed, distributed and publicly posted to invite review and discussion. Successive drafts of the EHE Plan were presented to the Task Force in early September and October, and then the draft EHE Plan was presented to the Ryan White Part A Planning Council and to the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) HIV Prevention Advisory Council. This process ensured that all stakeholders had an opportunity during the two months of September and October to access the plan, share it widely, provide comments and ultimately confirm that the EHE Plan is acceptable and inclusive of, reflective of and aligned with priority needs and work in Marion County for ending the HIV epidemic.