Focus Area Four: Strengthening Community Planning for HIV Prevention
The ENLACES project provides Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) to improve the capacity of Community Planning Groups (CPGs) and Health Departments (HDs) to include HIV infected and affected racial and ethnic minority participants in the community planning process and to increase Parity, Inclusion and Representation (PIR) on CPGs.
Target Population: Health Departments, Community Planning Groups, Latino/Hispanic community, including directly funded Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Health Department funded CBOs
Geographic Area: National
Strategy and CBA Services:
Approach/strategy: To Foster Latino participation and leadership in HIV Prevention Community Planning
Partnering with directly funded CBOs and HD funded CBOs that serve Latinos to deliver the ENLACES skills building course in their jurisdiction
Partnering with other CBA providers to improve PIR (parity, inclusion and representation) among People of Color in the HIV prevention community planning process
Services
CBA to directly funded CBOs and HD funded CBOs to increase awareness and access to CPGs in their jurisdictions including:
Orientation to Community Planning : HIV Prevention Community Planning 101, including major goals and objectives, CPG roles and responsibilities, CDC's Advancing HIV Prevention Initiative and Understanding the HIV Prevention Comprehensive plan with emphasis on the Key Products and Evaluation.
ENLACES Skills Building Course
The ENLACES ( Experience, New Ideas, Leadership, Action, Culture, Efficacy & Skills) Skills Building Course for HIV Prevention Community Planning uses a Cooperative Training Model that incorporates the learner's experiences in this three-day training. The ideas of the learners, facilitators and the community are showcased while the skills and competencies necessary to effectively participate in community planning are also developed.
The goal of the ENLACES skills building course is to increase and retain Latino participation in the HIV prevention community planning process by providing cultural affirmation, skills and support of Latino community members so that can participate in community planning in an active and meaningful way. The Course Objectives are:
To strengthen Latino leadership to enable greater participation in the HIV Prevention Community Planning process
To augment the capacity of Latinos serving in community planning groups to participate in an active and meaningful way
To increase the competency of Latinos to be effective advocates by increasing understanding of equity and access as public health issues
To develop networks of Latinos actively involved or committed to HIV Prevention Community Planning to support future collaborations and creations of new strategies
To enhance the community planning group experience
The curriculum consists of the following modules that have been designed to address the lack of adequate Latino representation and leadership in CPGs:
Foundations of Community Planning
Communication
Latinos in Community Planning
The CDC New Initiative: Advancing HIV Prevention
Data Driven Process (Epi)
Culture and HIV Community Planning
Collaboration
Equity abd Power
Leadership
Action Planning
CBA for Health departments and CPGs to increase/maintain Latino CPG members via:
HIV Prevention Community Planning Cuentos: A Guide to Foster Latino Involvement in Community Planning Groups
Latino participation in CPGs is still disproportionate compared to the number of Latino HIV/AIDS cases in many parts of the country. Despite the efforts and hard work of many dedicated people, barriers that keep Latinos from the planning table still persist. In response to this ongoing concern about under representation, the US-Mexico Border Health Association (USMBHA) has developed this new tool designed to guide CPGs, health departments and the Latino community on the best practices to recruit and foster meaningful involvement of Latinos in HIV Prevention Community Planning.
Five case studies feature important aspects of the community planning process including:
Collaboration
Recruitment
Retention
Leadership
Cultural Appropriateness
A step by step Facilitation Guide, an Action Planning Worksheet and a Resource section with fun icebreakers will assist CPGs and Health Departments to:
Identify areas of improvement for Latino involvement within their own CPG;
Facilitate a work session focused on applying success stories to their own CPG and;
Develop concrete steps to foster Latino involvement within their CPG.
At the moment, only hard copies of the Cuentos Guide are available. The Cuentos Guide has an English and Spanish section. If you would like a copy, please contact Maria Chaparro , ENLACES Project Coordinator at: chaparrm@usmbha.org
CBA for HDs and CPGs for other aspects of the Community Planning Process including individual consultations on:
Process Management: Meeting Facilitation, Team Building and Collaboration, Effective Communication, Decision making (Consensus), Conflict Management/Resolution and Evaluating the Process
Parity, Inclusion and Representation: Recruitment and Retention of CPG members, Best practices involving PWAs in community planning, Best practices involving Communities of Color in community planning
Key Products of Community Planning: Understanding the Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan, Understanding the Epidemiological Profile, Understanding the Community Services Assessment, Prioritizing Populations How to select the Interventions for each prioritized group
ENLACES Leadership Network to Strengthen and Support Latino CPG members
The USMBHA provides technical consultations via conference calls and emails to ENLACES Alumnae for on-going needs assessments, CBA development and mentorship opportunities in order to retain and build Latino leadership in CPGs.
ENCA (ENLACES en California ) -- The mission of ENLACES en California (ENCA) is to ensure appropriate and inclusive Latina/o representation in HIV / AIDS Community Planning Groups (CPG) throughout the state of California and to provide support to existing Latino CPG members while creating partnerships with other ethnic groups on a shared battle to stop HIV / AIDS.
¡Si Se Puede!: A publication highlighting Latino CPG networks and activities
El Paso, TX 79912