The Regional Training Center provides capacity building to nonclinical HIV service providers in New York State to help improve service outcomes in all aspects of HIV care, with particular attention to underserved populations.
Although New York has been one of the most successful states in the nation in providing HIV services, there are still a number of challenges that need to be addressed to end the HIV epidemic. Many people with HIV whose infection is undiagnosed are not effectively reached by clinical services. Nonclinical providers (primarily at community-based organizations) can play a central role in improving HIV outcomes—specifically in the areas of linkage and retention to care, community outreach, and the identification of and response to new clusters of HIV infections.
The initiative
CAI’s Regional Training Center serves the Mid-Hudson and New York City areas of the state and delivers approximately 50 training programs to 2,000 participants from 25 organizations each year.
The RTC is focused on building the capacity of nonclinical providers to promote innovative HIV testing services that engage those who are overlooked by current testing options and work to break down silos between clinical and nonclinical providers. More specifically, the RTC is enabling nonclinical providers to provide targeted community-based outreach for HIV testing; provide HIV testing in an array of community venues; and promote and enable uptake of HIV self-testing. In support of these activities, the RTC helps nonclinical providers train, sustain, and fully integrate the work of peers, client navigators, and retention specialists to help nonclinical providers reconnect with people with HIV who previously initiated services but have since fallen out of care.
All RTC activities are geared toward reducing HIV disparities among populations with unmet need, such as trans populations, sex workers, and homeless youth. This program builds on CAI’s decades-long relationship with the New York State Department of Health, including its AIDS Institute.
The impact
The RTC has become a cornerstone of New York State’s HIV response. From 2014-2019, we trained nearly 7,000 participants on topics including cultural competency, health literacy, and HIV screening. CAI has also led special projects that advanced innovative approaches to addressing HIV disparities.
The Social Network Strategy to Recruit Minority Patients to NY’s Health Plan Marketplace trained over 325 community members to serve as recruiters who successfully facilitated enrollment of hundreds of people of color with HIV in health insurance. This next phase of the RTC will continue to train the nonclinical HIV workforce to accelerate progress in reducing new infections toward the goal of ending the epidemic.
Project funder and partner
New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute
Leadership and contact
Catherine Simmons, RTC Project Manager: rtc.contact@caiglobal.org