Coastal Post Online
MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS MONTHLY - FREE PRESS
(415)868-1600 -
(415)868-0502(fax) - P.O.
Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924
October, 2004
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AIDS Voices Reheard-Council Replaces
Commission
By Karen Nakamura
There has been a
reprieve of sorts for the Aids community in Marin. Marin County's Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees
the distribution of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Funds in the County, has followed
through with its pledge to form an organization to give legal voice to the AIDS
community according to federal guidelines.
The dissolution this spring of the Marin AIDS Commission, which had been the
community voice for two decades, was brought about due to a funding
distribution dispute between certain members of the Commission and Health and
Human Services. To solve the dispute the Marin County Board of Supervisors
brought in a consultant Michael DeMayo who advised the Commission's
dissolution.
While this brought heated disagreement from a community already worried
about its opinions being lost in the shuffle, the dissolution was ultimately
accepted. This was in large part because of the report's emphasis on the need
to meticulously follow federally mandated Ryan White Funding guidelines. Much
of the problem between the County and the Commission was because of a lack of
comprehension and implementation of those guidelines.
The Marin HIV/AIDS Planning Council had its first orientation meeting
September 2. It included approximately 10 representatives of various community
interests. Some members of the former Marin AIDS Commission were invited to
join the new council. They included Betsy Gornet, Director of Hospice of Marin,
Marc Hering from Centerpoint, Barney Pia of the Positive Center, and Gregory Giorgi and William
Boemer, at-large representatives. MHHS Director Larry Meredith with several of
his staff represented Health and Human Services. There were also five to six
observers.
One of the highlights of the meeting was when Larry Meredith passed out
copies of huge, book-like, Ryan White guidelines. Emphasis was made that the
new planning council would be run according to these guidelines and thus would
have no teeth other than presenting recommendations to MHHS. But some former
commissioners were more concerned that MHHS would act on the new council's
recommendations in good faith rather than ignore them as they felt
recommendations from the Marin AIDS Commission was ignored by MHHS. These
people are learning every word and nuance of the new regulations that relate to
them.
Former long-time commissioner, Gregory Giorgi, suggested that many in the
community are afraid the minimum funding requirements would be enacted but
nothing beyond that minimum. He wants to see a system of quantified
service-driven guidelines, which go beyond the quality/quantity of service to
do something greater. An example would be to set standards and follow-through
on the number of check-in phone calls case managers make to clients a month.
In connection with the ongoing problem of caring for clients' actual needs,
Hospice Director Betsy Gornet suggested that the new council do input/service
surveys long before the eleventh hour, a previous problem with the Commission.
All in all, it was a productive meeting with plenty of follow up
reading to be done. The second meeting, however, was canceled due to a
scheduling conflict of one of the MHHS staff. This bothered one of the attendees
of the first meeting. "I've been worried about ensuring this Council
really is an active force. For one important member to take off and cause the
meeting to be canceled is disturbing. The people at the first meeting spent
considerable time coordinating scheduling dates. But because the first meeting
was productive, I'm hopeful that this will be only a one time glitch."
We'll be watching.