UCHAPS:
the Historical Perspective
The concept of an alliance
among the six jurisdictions directly funded
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) to conduct HIV prevention activities
first surfaced at a meeting of the Executive
Committee of the New York City HIV Prevention
Planning Group in early 1998. In discussing
the lack of a concerted, urban-focused advocacy
effort for prevention funding, analogous to
the effective efforts on behalf of Ryan White-funded
cities, the New York City PPG decided to raise
with the other five directly funded jurisdictions
(Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
and San Francisco) the possibility of creating
some kind of collaboration. This was brought
to a meeting at the Community Planning Leadership
Summit (CPLS) in March 1998, and was enthusiastically
received. Representatives of the six community
planning groups (CPGs) present at the meeting
agreed on a resolution addressed to the CDC
calling for a dialogue and greater attention
to urban HIV prevention issues.
Representatives of the six
jurisdictions met together for the second
time in August 1998 in Chicago. There was
a general consensus at that meeting that enhanced
advocacy efforts for urban HIV prevention
were necessary; that there was a general lack
of understanding of the role of community
planning in shaping HIV prevention interventions
in these jurisdictions; and that the six jurisdictions
could benefit substantially from closer communication
and collaborative relationships. CDC representatives
were also present at the meeting, and voiced
support for these conclusions. What emerged
from the Chicago meeting was a decision to
create a coalition consisting of the health
departments and CPGs in the six jurisdictions.
The coalition would take a bifurcated approach:
it would focus on enhancing HIV prevention
advocacy by creating an affiliation with an
organization engaged in that activity and
it would focus on improved information sharing,
technology transfer, and program development
among the six jurisdictions by affiliating
with an organization that could assist in
those areas. The name of this fledgling coalition
– the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention
Services (UCHAPS) – was sketched out
on a napkin on a plane returning to New York
City from Chicago, and was subsequently approved
by the group.
UCHAPS met next in Houston
in January 1999, again with CDC present for
much of the meeting. The group present created
a UCHAPS Steering Committee with one voting
representative from each jurisdiction. The
group decided to send out solicitations to
candidate organizations in both of the areas
identified above – advocacy and communications
and information sharing and support. This
process was undertaken, and the agencies selected
for affiliation were AIDS Action Council,
for advocacy, and the National Alliance of
State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD),
for communications and information sharing
and support. Subsequently, UCHAPS by-laws
were also approved by the full membership
at the CPLS in Pittsburgh in March 1999, incorporating
the Steering Committee and other institutional
decisions. In June 1999, UCHAPS joined AIDS
Action Council as a consortium member, and
began to support its advocacy on behalf of
HIV prevention funding and policy (as well
as other issues). UCHAPS received a seat on
the AIDS Action board of directors, and two
seats on its Public Policy Committee.
UCHAPS and NASTAD collectively
sought funding from CDC to create a staff
position to support UCHAPS’ work. A
proposal was submitted to CDC in late 1999.
In the interim, NASTAD agreed to have two
UCHAPS representatives on its Prevention Working
Group. At the United States Conference on
AIDS in Denver in November 1999, the UCHAPS
membership voted on co-chairs and a slate
of individuals for the AIDS Action and NASTAD
positions. UCHAPS also met with Daniel Zingale,
then-Executive Director of AIDS Action, to
discuss how UCHAPS could specifically strengthen
AIDS Action’s advocacy on HIV prevention.
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