What is HIV Community Planning?
HIV Prevention community planning is a collaborative process through which health departments work in partnership with community planning group(s) (CPG's) to design local prevention plans that best represent the needs of the various communities at risk for, or infected with HIV.

The Major goals of HIV prevention community planning are to improve the effectiveness of HIV prevention programs through:

The participation of Latinos in HIV Prevention Community Planning is urgent and crucial to future life-saving interventions targeting the Latino population. However, many Community Planning Groups (CPGs) still lack adequate Latino representation, which affects the quantity and quality of HIV prevention programs in communities where Latinos exist.

ENLACES aims to position Latinos to be active and effective participants in the HIV Prevention Community Planning process at the local, state and regional levels. It combines 5 key goals:

Latinos and Community Planning
The ENLACES Project, through its Capacity Building Assistance and collaborations with community based organizations, Health departments and Community Planning Groups, has been successful in increasing Latino representation in West Texas, Northern California, Utah, Kansas, Delaware, North Carolina, Florida, Southern California and Alaska.

ENLACES Latino Leadership Network
Latinos who have participated in an ENLACES training and have gone on to becoming voting members of their respective CPGs become part of the ENLACES Leadership Network. As part of this network, Latinos receive the ¡Si Se Puede! newsletter that highlights activities of Latinos in community planning for HIV prevention as well as on-going support via email, conference calls and additional training opportunities to sustain meaningful CPG participation. To learn more about our ENLACES CPG “Superestrellas,” Click Here and read about how Latinos are contributing to the fight against AIDS.

ENLACES en California (ENCA) is a collective of Latinas/os who are currently working in health centers, community based organizations, health departments, and other programs integrally involved in HIV / AIDS. On October 2005, ENCA members received a four day training by the U.S. - Mexico Border Health Association to implement the ENLACES curriculum in California. At the training, the members met and decided to create ENCA with the purpose of brining the ENLACES curriculum to California.
www.enlacesencalifornia.org

If you are a CPG member and have not accessed our services, but wish to become part of the ENLACES family, please contact Maria Chaparro at chaparrm@usmbha.org.