NY Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2020

Summary. HCC is proposing a program to provide services to those at highest risk for HIV and SUD, with a focus on women of color, Caribbean immigrants, and LGBTQ persons in Brooklyn, NY. HCC will provide training and education around the risks of substance misuse, education on HIV/AIDS, and needed linkages to service provision for individuals with HIV. HCC proposes to serve 100 unduplicated individuals annually and 500 over the entire project period. Project name. Brooklyn Navigation to Care Program Populations to be served. The Haitian-American Community Coalition’s (HCC) population of focus (POF) will be those at highest risk for HIV and substance use disorders, with a focus on focus on women of color, Caribbean immigrants, and LGBTQ persons, ages 16 and over. The catchment area will be high-need areas of Brooklyn, NY, including Central Brooklyn, East New York, Flatbush-East Flatbush, and Canarsie-Flatlands. Strategies/interventions. HCC’s program activities will include: 1) implement community-based substance misuse and HIV prevention strategies; 2) develop and implement public messaging and awareness campaigns on substance misuse among PLWH and the importance of seeking care and treatment; 3) provide opportunities for screening and testing for HIV and viral hepatitis; 4) provide navigation services to link individuals to care for HIV and substance misuse; 5) provide education and training to SUD treatment and healthcare providers on the importance of screening for HIV; and 6) implement the following EBPs: RESPECT and SBIRT. Project goals and measurable objectives. The program’s goals are 1) improve local service providers’ understanding of needs and issues in the community related to substance abuse and HIV, 2) increase the number of at-risk individuals who are identified, tested for HIV, and linked with HIV care, housing and support services, and 3) increase the number of at-risk individuals who are identified, tested for HIV, and linked to HIV care and other support services. The program’s objectives include: offer trainings and workshops for 15 agencies on the risks of substance and HIV in the POF and best practices for serving the POF; conduct outreach and recruitment activities for 1,040 persons per year; conduct public messaging and awareness campaigns for 7,200 persons per year; provide referrals to HIV, STD, and HCV testing for 100 persons per year; provide 4 group prevention education sessions per year for at least 120 participants per year on substance misuse prevention and HIV risk reduction services; screen at least 30 persons from the POF per year for substance misuse using evidence-based screening tools; provide navigation to SUD treatment for 95% of participants; provide HIV counseling, testing, and referral services to at least 100 persons each year; provide HCV and STI screening for at least 100 persons each year; provide navigation to HIV care services to 95% of persons testing HIV positive per year; provide navigation to HCV and STI care to 95% of persons testing positive per year; and provide ongoing support to 95% of HIV-positive clients.

Iris House (IH)'s program, YOU! (Young, Outstanding, Unique) will engage over 6,000 youth and young adults ages 13-24 in substance misuse prevention and HIV prevention education in Harlem and the South Bronx in an overall effort to prevent and reduce the onset of SA and transmission of HIV/AIDS among at-risk populations, including racial/ethnic minority youth. Populations to be served: IH's population of focus will be racial/ethnic minority youth at the greatest risk for substances abuse disorder and who are most at risk for or living with HIV, including YMSM. The program will operate in the Harlem and South Bronx communities to ensure a greater awareness and navigation to treatment and care. The service ares is mostly African-American, and suffers from high rates of substance use disorders, mental illness and chronic diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. Strategies/Interventions: IH's key program activities will include: 1) Substance misuse and HIV prevention education; 2) Youth Educational workshops; 3) A teen summit/educational day; 4) Linking participants to substance use treatment, counseling and/or supportive services; 5) Providing participants with Seeking Safety Inventions; 6) Conducting HIV, HEP C, chlamydia. gonorrhea and syphilis testing; 7) Connecting participants who test positive to care and treatment for HIV, viral hepatitis, or STIs; 8) Distributing condoms to participants and community members; 9)Creating public awareness campaign. Project Goals and Measurable Objectives: The goals of YOU! (Young, Outstanding, Unique) are to: 1) Increase the number of adolescents and young adults in Harlem and the South Bronx that are aware of the risks of HIV and substance misuse; 2) Increase the number of adolescents and young adults who are connected to HIV/STI/viral hepatitis screening and testing services; 3) Provide navigation and follow-up for adolescents and young adult to care for HIV and substance misuse where indicated; 4) Develop and implement culturally appropriate public messaging and awareness campaign on the risk of substance misuse and HIV risks for adolescents and young adults as well as for those who are living with HIV. The program's key associated, measurable objectives over 5 years are: 1) Provide substance misuse and HIV prevention education to 6.750 13-24 years olds (participants) in Harlem and the South Bronx; 2) Deliver 120 workshops on substance misuse and HIV prevention to 1,200 participants; 3) Link 500 participants to substance use treatment, counseling and/or supportive services (i.e. behavioral health services); 4) Provide 125 participants with Seeking Safety Invention 5) Conduct 1,250 HIV tests and 500 tests for viral hepatitis; 6) Connect 70 participants to care and treatment for HIV, viral hepatitis or STIs; 7) Distribute 15,000 condoms annually to participants and community members; 8) Create a public awareness campaign to reach 50,000 via social media.

Iris House (IH)'s program i-Matter!, will engage over 3,000 youth and young adult ages 13-24 in substance misuse prevention and HIV prevention education in Essex and Union counties of NJ in an overall effort to prevent and reduce the onset of SA and transmission of HIV/AIDS including racial/ethnic minority youth. Project Name: i-Matter! Populations to be served: IH's population of focus will be racial/ethnic minorities, particularly African-American and Hispanic youth, ages 13-24, at highest risk for HIV and substance abuse disorders in New Jersey (NJ) and specifically in the cities of Newark, Irvington and East Orange in Essex County and in the cities of Plainfield and Elizabeth in Union County. The service area population is mostly African-American, and suffer from high rates of substance use disorders, mental illness, and chronic diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. Strategies/Interventions: Iris House's key program activities will include: 1) Substance misuse and HIV prevention education; 2) Youth educational workshops; 3) A teen summit/educational day; 4) Linking participants to substance use treatment, counseling and/or supportive services; 5) Providing participants with the Seeking Safety Intervention; 6) Conducting HIV testing and Hep C linkage; 7) Connection participants who test positive to care and treatment for HIV, viral hepatitis, or STI's; 8) Distribution condom to participants and the community; 9) Creating a public awareness campaign. Project Goals and Measurable Objectives: The goes of i-Matter!, are to: 1) Increase the number of adolescents and young adults in Essex and Union county that are aware of the risks of HIV and substance misuse; 2) Increase the number of adolescents and young adults who are connected to HIV/STI/viral hepatitis screening and testing services; 3) Provide navigation and follow-up for adolescents and young adults to care for HIV and substance misuse where indicated; 4) Develop and implement culturally appropriate public messaging and awareness campaigns on the risk of substance misuse and HIV risks for adolescents and young adults as well as for those who are living with HIV. The program's key associated, measurable objectives over 5 years are: 1) Provide substance misuse and HIV prevention education to 3250 13-24 years old's (participants) in Essex and Union counties; 2) Deliver 120 workshops on substance misuse and HIV prevention to 1200 participants; 3) Link 250 participants to substance use treatment, counseling and/or supportive services (i.e. behavioral health services); 4) Provide 125 participants annually with Seeking Safety Intervention for substance misuse and HIV prevention education; 5) Conduct 1250 HIV treatment for HIV tests and link 500 persons to viral hepatitis testing; 6) Connect 50 participants to care and treatment for HIV, viral hepatitis or STI's; 7) Connect 75 participants to PrEP treatment for HIV prevention; 8) Create a public awareness campaign to reach 50,000 persons annually via social media including but not exclusive to YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Summary of Project: The Levittown Community Action Coalition (LCAC) seeks to create a safe, healthy, and secure community for children and adults where untimely deaths and lives affected by addition are reduced through prevention, education and engagement. With Drug Free Communities Funding, the hopes of LCAC will specifically prevent and reduce underage drinking and opiate use among our community's youth. Description of the Population to Be Served: This project will benefit youth between the ages of 12-18, that reside within the boundaries of Levittown and attend either Levittown Union Free School District or Island Trees School District. The demographic population for students between 7th-12th grade include Caucasian: 84.1%; Latino: 14.6%; Asian: 7.3%; Multiracial: 2.2%; Black: 1.4%. The history of Levittown residents lends itself to Levittown Community's overwhelming sense of community, unity, and pride. However, the presence of risk factors including access and availability of drugs, low perceptions of harm related to underage drinking and opiate misuse as youth navigate into 12th grade. Other consequences we see among Levittown youth we see and plan to decrease/eliminate include number of arrests, low school commitment, anti-social behaviors, and mental health symptoms. Summary of the Services to Be Provided: LCAC will strengthen collaborations through the community, reduce underage drinking and opiate misuse among 7th-12th graders as measured by the YDS Survey. LCAC will utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework in all prevention efforts, focusing on the seven core strategies. LCAC will provide educational presentations, develop a comprehensive written and media campaign, provide evidence-based skill training, and curricular to coalition partners and youth, create greater awareness and enforcement of existing laws which protect our youth from consequences of underage drinking and opiate misuse. Description of the Coordination Planned with Appropriate State and Local Health Agencies: LCAC has Coalition Involvement Agreement (CIA) signed by Omayra Perez, LCSW-R, the Acting Director of The Nassau County Department of Mental Health, Chemical dependency and Developmental Disabilities. In partnership with OASAS, the local government representative, Ms. Perez is apprised of all aspects of LCAC assessment, planning, activity implementation. In addition, The Long Island Prevention Resource Center is actively involved in guidance of LCAC's training and evaluation efforts.

The mission of this project is to implement the Town of Babylon Cares Collaborative Project (TOBCCP) to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of addictive substance misuse (specifically alcohol) and its related problems while strengthening prevention capacity and infrastructure among youth age 9-21 and adults 21 and older. Lindenhurst Community Cares Coalition, Inc. (Lindy Cares) is seeking lasting change in our communities by changing the choices that are made about alcohol misuse. Since 2013, Lindy Cares has actively worked to reduce alcohol use in Lindenhurst, NY focusing work towards specific local conditions and seeks to enhance and expand successful evidenced based best practices and lesson learned throughout the neighboring communities in the Town of Babylon. This project seeks to bring about a more balanced approach to prevention across the 4th largest town in the state of NY and address disparities in prevention messaging and curriculum in the schools. The TOBCCP will utilize a comprehensive media plan that includes billboards, PSA’s videos, written and social media posts and campaigns. To further strengthen infrastructure, TOBCCP will build/expand a web-based health and social services directory to ensure increased use and sharing of effective resources from the Prevention Technology Transfer Centers (PTTCs) and local resources to improve networking opportunities and greater continuity of implementation of prevention interventions across the town with a diverse population of over 200,000. By using community surveys and focus groups we expect 50% of residents surveyed to report at least one media impression from this campaign. Additionally, this project will target, build upon and strengthen current collaboration efforts with members from 3 existing community coalitions and serving over 10,000 students. Our goal to increase youth knowledge of 7% will be achieved by implementing evidenced based Life Skills/social emotional curriculum and leveraging existing community and county resources by partnering with established agencies (Town of Babylon Beacon Family Wellness Center (Treatment), Youth Centers, local government (County Health & Human Services), civic associations and the Prevention Resource Center to implement training goals, facilitate intervention implementation and including mandated PSA by students on school website parent portals. By fortifying this project, we will ensure prevention is woven into the fabric of academics, increasing parental involvement with a measurable increased perception of risk from 5% to 7% blended with law enforcement working closely with local government and businesses to include policies that will ensure responsible beverage service through training and regular compliance checks. Enhancing skills and involving the communities in social activities ensure that prevention messages becomes part of the local culture and reaches every citizen in the town.

Oceanside SAFE Coalition Oceanside SAFE Coalition serves the unincorporated hamlet of Oceanside in Nassau County, New York. The Coalition’s mission is to prevent alcohol and drug use among youth by engaging in environmental strategies, programs and activities that create a safe, healthy and drug-free Oceanside community. The Coalition focuses on two substances, alcohol and marijuana, that are abused most frequently by area youth. Oceanside, zipcode 11572, had a 2010 Census count of 32,109 residents. Racial composition was 92.2% white, 2.74% Asian, 2.42% other, 1.28% multi-racial, 1.26% African-American and 0.09% Native American. The ethnicity is 9.25% Hispanic. This suburban community is comprised of blue collar and middle-class parents. Parents contribute to youth substance problems by hosting ‘tailgating’ parties before sports events, resulting in intoxicated teens attending football games. Parents allow youth to drink in their homes and feel they can control their child’s consumption of drugs or alcohol if they supervise youth use in the home. Youth substance use for alcohol and marijuana is high with 58.1% of 12th graders reporting past 30-day alcohol use and 26.7% reporting past 30-day marijuana on an April 2019 PRIDE Youth Development Survey (YDS) administered to 7th through 12th graders in the Oceanside School District. Parents report that the legalization of medical marijuana in New York has opened the door wider to experimentation and decreased perception of risk. The community has 74 establishments licensed to sell alcohol and numerous open areas, like parks and golf courses, which provide opportunities for unsupervised use of substances. Funds from the Drug Free Communities Grant Program will be utilized for capacity building, building a prevention data base, education, and implementation of environmental strategies. Funds will provide trainings for the Oceanside SAFE coalition and establish a strong social media presence, including website development. Youth will be provided with training on advocacy skills, media literacy and the Coalition will hold at least one community-wide forum on substance abuse. Coalition staff will attend mandatory DFC trainings and coalition members will attend a CADCA Youth Leadership Forum. Additional funds will be utilized to move the 12-month Action Plan forward, including community engagement, youth surveys, and youth-led initiatives such as a Sticker Shock campaign. The project is projected to serve approximately 6,000 youth and adults on an annual basis and 10,000 youth, parents and community members over the life of the project.

Family Health Centers at NYU Langone (FHC) proposes a combination of its successful HIV prevention and substance misuse programming with its Project Reach Youth program to target high-risk, high-need youth ages 14 – 24 in Central Brooklyn, one of New York State’s most underserved communities. The proposed Prevention Navigation Project will target Wingate and Erasmus high schools in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, an area heavily impacted by HIV, substance use, and other risk factors. Services will occur at each high school school based health center and the Flatbush Family Health Center. As the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in New York City, FHC will leverage this project to continue improving access to health and community services for Brooklyn residents. As the direct service provider for this grant, FHC will provide all prevention and treatment services while coordinating with community partners for outreach and referral to FHC. The project goals are to reduce the risk for HIV and SUD among the target population using the evidence based practices of of Motivational Interviewing, HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) services for HIV prevention, and the eight-session Making Proud Choices! (MPC) program. FHC will serve 200 individuals annually (1,000 in 5 years) with the Making Proud Choices intervention, 250 individuals annually (1,250 in 5 years) with HIV/HCV testing, and 125 individuals annually (625 in 5 years) with Motivational Interviewing. Our objectives are to educate youth about risk and protective factors while increasing the availability of HIV and SUD prevention and treatment resources. Specifically, this project will identify high risk Central Brooklyn youth ages 14 – 24 in order to effectively: (1) divert youth from behaviors that increase their risk for developing HIV and SUD; (2) provide education about the importance of screening for HIV; (3) link HIV and HCV-positive individuals to care; (4) provide preventive services such as PrEP; and (5) provide substance misuse treatment (MAT).

HIV and substance misuse among adolescents and young adults (AYA) remains a pressing public health prevention and treatment priority. We propose to implement Educate, Test, and Navigate (ETN), a comprehensive peer-based approach to HIV and substance misuse prevention and treatment navigation for minority youth in the country’s poorest congressional district and “hotspot” for HIV and substance misuse—the South Bronx, NYC. The evidence-based project activities are designed to (1) reduce HIV risk behavior and substance misuse; (2) increase HIV and substance misuse screening among AYA; and (3) increase the proportion of at-risk, HIV+, and/or substance misusing AYA who are engaged and retained in appropriate clinical services. The federal Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative identified NYC’s Bronx as one of the 48 counties with the highest HIV burden in the United States. In the South Bronx, the overwhelming majority (>94%) of residents are Latino and/or Black, and 40% are younger than 25 years old. Alarmingly, the rate of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 in the South Bronx is 29% higher than in the Bronx overall. Furthermore, the South Bronx alone accounted for more than half of new HIV diagnoses in all Bronx residents under the age of 30 in 2015. The South Bronx also represents a hotspot of substance misuse. All 5 NYC neighborhoods with the highest drug-related hospitalization rates are in the South Bronx. Research suggests substance misuse is associated with increased risk of HIV infection among HIV-negative individuals and decreased likelihood of achieving desired HIV treatment outcomes among HIV-positive individuals, namely engagement and retention in care and sustained viral suppression. Therefore, an integrated programmatic focus on both HIV and substance misuse prevention education, testing, and navigation to prevention and treatment services in geographies hardest hit by the epidemic is central to the success of the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. Using the Educate, Test, Navigate (ETN) approach, the proposed project will implement 9 integrated activities that directly align with the projects’ programmatic goals and SMART objectives. For prevention education, we will (1) perform community outreach and engagement (2,000 households/year); (2) provide comprehensive community-based HIV and substance misuse prevention using Community PROMISE, an evidence-based intervention endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (recruitment of 10 volunteer peer advocates/year); and (3) launch a community-wide public messaging and awareness campaign on HIV and substance misuse. For testing, we will (4) provide opportunities for HIV testing (150 AYA/year) and (5) HCV testing (150 AYA/year); as well as (6) substance misuse and sexual risk behavior screening and motivational interviewing-based brief interventions for AYA using SBIRT, an evidence-based program endorsed by SAMHSA (500 AYA/year). For navigation, we will (7) actively link all indicated AYA to comprehensive clinical HIV and/or substance misuse services at the Adolescent AIDS Program (AAP) at Montefiore Medical Center using STYLE, an evidence-based intervention endorsed by CDC (approximately 40 AYA/year); (8) provide comprehensive case management for retention in HIV and substance misuse services using STYLE to retain 85% of navigated AYA in services; and (9) develop and disseminate a continuing education webinar series for healthcare providers regarding testing and linkage to treatment for AYA at-risk or living with HIV, which will be made available for free Continuing Education Units through NYU’s online and continuing education division.

Planned Parenthood of New York City's Project Street Beat (PSB) proposes to implement two evidence-based practices (EBP) - Screen, Brief Intervention, and Refer to Treatment (SBRIT) and Seeking Safety with Black and Latinx women-identified New Yorkers aged 16-24 in the four prioritized counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, and Queens. During the 5 years of the project, PSB will reach more than 500 women with primary HIV and substance use prevention and screening, reaching 75-110 women annually. PSB is located in the hardest hit counties in the United States; approximately 10% of all people living with HIV in the United States live in these four counties. PSB specifically works in the most heavily impacted neighborhoods including the South Bronx (Bronx County), Central Brooklyn (Kings County), and Northern Manhattan (New York County). The populations of focus for this grant will be Black and Latinx women aged 16-24 who live, work, and spend time in the South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, Western Queens, and Northern Manhattan.

The Police Activities League (PAL) of Massena, NY proposes to collaborate with the local school district, a drug free community coalition, and the county prevention council to achieve the stated goals and objectives by strengthening community-level capacity to implement services and improve pertinent infrastructures. Through a Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success project, PAL plans to work with school personnel to identify at-risk youth in grades 4-12 and offer out-of-school social interactive learning activities to prepare them to make healthy choices and resist peer influence. Collaborating with community partners, PAL will train its staff and school personnel using the Too Good for Drugs™ prevention curriculum. Massena PAL will serve approximately 700 youth annually and 1,200 youth throughout the lifetime of the project