| SECOND
STOP: Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program, Inc.
A comprehensive educational and holistic program for children
living with HIV and their families, the Program provides
access to a network of community resources, and focuses
on all areas of functioning and language, and a variety
of skills with individualized attention to meet the special
needs of children. In addition, the Program’s staff monitors
the health of children and families, administers medication
to children, maintains critical contact with medical providers,
and offers home- and hospital-based services to children
who become ill due to their HIV infection. The Program’s
educational services are developmentally appropriate for
children as young as two years-old.
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| (from l-r) Richard Matens,
Program Director of the Ryan White Title 1 Office of
the City of Baltimore Health Department, and representative
of InterGroup Services, a consulting group supporting
non-profits including the Baltimore Pediatric HIV program,
Cornell Thomas, outgoing Chair of the Baltimore Title
I Planning Council, three representatives from Associated
Black Charities, a client of the program (standing),
and Debbie Rock, Executive Director of the Baltimore
Pediatric HIV Program (seated on the floor) |
In a large day-care center
in North Baltimore, nearly 20 staff members, guests, and
clients, as well as 30 smiling children, welcomed the delegation
to the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program. Executive Director
Debbie Rock introduced the guests, who included program
administrators from Baltimore and Maryland HIV/AIDS Administrations,
Johns Hopkins University, Associated Black Charities, InterGroup
Services, and the Baltimore Community Planning Group. Among
the clients present were teenagers who had been HIV positive
at birth and were lifelong clients of the organization,
and HIV positive parents, and their caretakers.
Sitting in a circle in the playroom, the group received
a short introduction to the work of the Baltimore Pediatric
HIV Program, which highlighted the Program’s case management,
weekly support groups for HIV positive individuals and caretakers,
and child day care. Richard Matens, program director of
the Baltimore Ryan White Title I Office, argued in support
of these comprehensive services in the context of Ryan White
CARE Act funds: “If there is no money for child care or
transport, if there is no place for kids to go everyday,
the Ryan White CARE Act money is useless.”
Ms. Debbie Rock confirmed that their work to provide emotional
support, to train clients on how to become agents of their
own medical care, and to “work with families” is critical
in helping clients take their medication regularly, keep
their spirits up, and attend their medical appointments.
In her first public speaking engagement, a mother of a young
HIV positive woman, whose own son had died of an HIV related
illness at seven years of age, spoke to this issue from
her personal experience. “Being at home with someone living
with HIV, you see things other people don’t . . . You wouldn’t
know looking at my daughter that, many days, she doesn’t
want to get out of the bed . . . or take her medications,
because the side effects are so bad . . . on those days,
[the center] is the only thing that gets her out of bed.”
Her daughter agreed, revealing that “the smiles on these
kids gets me up in the morning . . . and I’ll be here still
ten years from now, that’s what I’m claiming.”
A common theme several clients shared was how the Program
improved their relationships with medical providers, a relationship
many reported as one of indifference or blame. One HIV positive
woman explained that the Program taught her how to ask for
the help she needed from her provider: “It used to be the
doctor only spent three minutes with me, I didn’t know how
to ask him to come back. . . Debbie taught me that.” Others
reported that their providers had scolded them for not taking
their medication properly when they presented with side
effects, even though they were complying with the regimen.
One young woman was treated so poorly, she said, that the
center helped her change providers to one she feels is caring
and professional.
Lastly, an HIV positive client shared how the day-care center
helped give her the time and space necessary during the
day to take care of her health and plan for the future.
“I thought I was dealing with the disease before,” she said
of her experience before visiting the center, “but the disease
was dealing with me.” Meeting with Ms. Debbie Rock, she
said, “gave me the break I needed.” The client has now received
a scholarship to earn a Master of Social Work degree and
she is moving her family into the first house that they
have ever owned.
At the end of the visit, Debbie Rock spoke of the challenge
she faces with the flat funding of the Ryan White CARE Act
in recent years. “We face the pressure of doing more and
more with less and less resources,” she reported “The administrative
cap, too, is a serious burden,” a staff member said, commenting
on the requirement in the Ryan White CARE Act that all administrative
costs total less than 10% of the programmatic budget.
For more information on the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program,
go to http://www.bphivp.org/
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