Funding Delay Impacts Cincinnati, Ohio HIV/AIDS Service Program

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Cincinnati Enquirer examines how STOP AIDS – a local organization providing cash assistance, HIV education, tests and treatment – has "had to dig into reserve funds to continue to provide" some of its services to clients. According to the Enquirer, "Delays in reimbursement of federal funds by the state forced [STOP AIDS] to scramble for the past six weeks to serve its 1,000 clients." The Enquirer reports that "[f]unds from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program distributed by the Ohio Department of Health were held up when lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland [D] failed to reach a budget compromise in July"; officials contend that the funds "could arrive late this week." The Cincinnati-based organization "conducts about 3,000 HIV tests a year and provides education programs to 20,000 people a year in schools and prisons," according to the article (Curnutte, 8/19).