HIV Services at WPA
Today, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day. In 1995, the National Association of People With AIDS first observed this day to promote HIV screenings and increase the number of people who actually know their status so they can get proper treatment. Today, the percentage of people in the U.S. with undiagnosed HIV is decreasing, but 1 in 8 people who are HIV+ still don’t know it.
Clients at the Women’s Prison Association are especially vulnerable. Justice-involved women have multiple overlapping characteristics that put them at significant risk for HIV. At intake, the majority of WPA clients report substance use and/or histories of trauma and abuse. About three quarters are unstably housed, a factor that can exacerbate drug use, weaken connections to regular health care, and contribute to high-risk decision-making such as trading sex for money or a place to sleep. And, according to the CDC, African-American women in jail are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with HIV as white or Hispanic women.
Research shows that most incarcerated or formerly incarcerated women with HIV were infected in their communities, where they engaged in high-risk behaviors or were unaware of available prevention and treatment resources. Through our HIV services, WPA is working to change this.
HIV Services at WPA
WPA offers a continuum of services for women who are HIV+ and at risk for infection. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of our programs is that we run them both inside correctional facilities and communities throughout New York City. This way, we can maintain the connections we make with women while they’re incarcerated and ensure that they continue to have access to medical care and other services when they are released.
Prison and Jail-Based HIV Services
Inside Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities, WPA provides transitional planning and education, and also trains women to be peer educators on HIV. And at Rikers Island, we help women identify high-risk behaviors and provide them with tools and resources to reduce their risk for HIV, Hepatitis, and other STIs.
Community-Based HIV Services
WPA’s High Impact Prevention Program provides counseling, testing, peer support, and linkage to treatment and preventative drugs such as PrEP and PEP. The program targets women with justice involvement citywide, as well as women with or without justice involvement in the neighborhoods of East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Crown Heights, Brooklyn. These neighborhoods have some of the highest HIV rates in the city.
Emergency Services
WPA provides women with emergency assistance such as food; emergency rent and utility assistance; MetroCards to make appointments; and financial assistance for medical care. We typically provide these services during the first 45-days after a woman is released from prison or jail and before her public assistance begins. The daily struggle to meet basic needs can compel our clients to relapse into drug use or resort to unsafe behavior in order to obtain food or shelter.
Help End the Epidemic:
Wondering how you can get involved this National HIV Testing Day and support HIV testing and prevention efforts year-round?
1. Get tested for HIV. And don’t forget to ask your healthcare provider about your risks.
2. Talk with family, friends, and colleagues about HIV prevention and about why this day matters to you.
3. Make a gift to support WPA’s HIV services.
4. Strengthen WPA’s outreach efforts by donating toiletries, sleep masks, and non-perishable snacks. Better yet, get a group of friends together and contact us to pack HIV testing kits.
#HIVTestingDay
