SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements:
Volume 2, Issue 18 (September 5, 1997)

Information dissemination from 27 Innovative Models of HIV Care projects funded as Special Projects of National Significance by the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Introduction

Welcome to SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements. In each issue of SPNS/Fax, we will highlight findings from the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance Program Cooperative Agreements. The projects have been funded to develop innovative models of HIV/AIDS care. SPNS/Fax reports are distributed every two weeks by fax machine to all subscribers. All issues of SPNS/Fax are also available at this Web site. Due to slight differences in the media, issues distributed by fax machine may appear slightly different from those posted on this Web site, but the content is identical.

Larkin Street Youth Center’s Assisted Care Program

The diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in homeless young people exacerbates existing problems already faced by this population. Youth who already were struggling with issues of abuse and neglect, homelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness experience intensified difficulties in each of these areas after receiving a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. HIV-positive homeless young people need comprehensive support services to help them exit street life, maintain their mental and physical health, and ultimately improve their quality of life. The cornerstone of Larkin Street Youth Center (LSYC) is a multi-service, wraparound approach designed to reduce barriers to care and assist homeless youth living in the San Francisco Bay Area in accessing needed care and services.

Since 1991, Larkin Street Youth Center’s HIV service delivery model — the Aftercare Program — has effectively managed the medical, mental health, substance abuse, psychosocial, and housing needs of adolescents and young adults living with HIV/AIDS. A core goal of LSYC is to enhance this continuum of care through the acquisition, development and operation of a fully licensed residential care facility for youth disabled by AIDS — the Assisted Care Facility. Consequently, a new care/housing facility will open on October 1, 1997 to provide a continuum of comprehensive care and services at a single location. The official grand opening for the new Larkin Street Assisted Care Facility will take place in mid October.

The Assisted Care Program will provide permanent housing for 12 youth living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV service delivery model provides permanent assisted living/housing and long-term care for those adolescents and young adults — 25 years old and younger — who are disabled, require special care assistance, and are unable to care for themselves. The treatment philosophy resembles the therapeutic community model by providing strong peer support, structured activities, on-site 24-hour supervision, crisis intervention, counseling, and medical services. Residents include those who formerly were homeless and who have medical conditions or other disabilities that may include substance abuse and mental health issues.

Larkin Street Youth Center’s integrated care model consists of prevention, research, medical, and psychosocial components. Support and ancillary services include substance abuse treatment, transportation, vocational and educational counseling, case management, mental health and psychiatric services, and nutritional programming. As a provision of LSYC’s Assisted Care and Aftercare Facility, adolescents and young adults living with and disabled by HIV/AIDS (i.e., clients of Larkin Street) will receive primary care which includes: quarterly physical exams and medication management; quarterly blood work and CD4 counts; TB and flu vaccination; hepatitis status; referrals and medical eligibility; and on-site pharmacy.

Larkin Street Youth Center’s Assisted Care and Aftercare Program/Facility is the centerpiece and foundation for providing a coordinated service delivery model that manages the medical, substance abuse, and mental health treatment needs of adolescents and young adults disable by HIV/AIDS.

For more information contact Anne Stanton, M.S.W., C.S.W., Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Center, 1044 Larkin Street, San Francisco, California 94109, Phone 415.673.0911, Fax 415.923.1378, or email at lsyc@aol.com.

SPNS/Fax is produced by The Measurement Group–PROTOTYPES Evaluation and Dissemination Center (EDC). Editorial comments should be made to The Measurement Group at 5811A Uplander Way, Culver City, California 90230, 310.216.1051, 310.670.7735 (fax).
 

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