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National HIV/AIDS Strategy

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and the NASW Chapter Partnership Initiative: Building the Professional Social Work Response through Treatment and Advocacy

NHAS:  From Policy to Practice - Human Rights Update 2012

The vision of the NHAS is that the United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity of socio-economic circumstance will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.

To support implementation of the NHAS, agencies within the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (e.g., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)) created the Twelve Cities Project focusing on the twelve metropolitan areas most severely affected by the HIV epidemic. In the fall of 2011, NASW received funding to support SAMHSA’s implementation NHAS plan to expand the knowledge and capacity of mental health service providers- particularly social workers - as they work to address the mental health and psychosocial issues confronting people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project administers a newly funded NASW Chapter HIV/AIDS Partnership Initiative.

The NASW Chapter HIV/AIDS Partnership Initiative is designed to target the twelve jurisdictions identified in the NHAS with designated NASW Chapters: New York City Chapter (New York City); California Chapter (Los Angeles and San Francisco); Metro-DC Chapter (Washington, DC); Georgia Chapter (Atlanta); Texas Chapter (Houston and Dallas); Maryland Chapter (Baltimore); Illinois Chapter (Chicago); Florida Chapter (Miami); Pennsylvania Chapter (Philadelphia); and Puerto Rico Chapter (San Juan). In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 12-cities funded health and behavioral health departments, community based organizations, and other Chapter partners and associates, the funding will sponsor trainings and workshops through the Chapter continuing education and professional development capacities. In addition to the 12-cities targeted funding, the NASW Chapter HIV/AIDS Partnership Initiative also includes funding to continue to work with other NASW Chapters in areas with emerging needs (as identified by CDC data).

In the first year (ending September 30, 2012), the following chapters will participate in the partnership: Maryland, Texas, California, Illinois, Metro DC, and Florida. Additionally, the Louisiana, North Carolina and Mississippi Chapters have been identified as having communities with emerging needs and will participate in the partnership.

Additional chapters will be approached to work in the second and third years of the project. Staff at the national office working on this project are Dina Kastner, Senior Field Organizer (dkastner@naswdc.org) and Evelyn Tomaszewski, Senior Policy Associate.

This project was covered in the February 2012 NASW News and can be accessed online through http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/news/2012/02/default.asp.

Policy to Practice: Evaluation of mobilizing the social work workforce in support of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (2012)

Learn more about workshops offered through the NASW HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project.