Capacity Building Assistance for Health Departments

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advancing a new approach to funding HIV prevention for health departments in states, territories, and select cities. High Impact Prevention — using combinations of scientifically-proven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions targeted to the right populations in the right geographic areas –is a new direction calculated to achieve a higher level of impact with every federal HIV prevention dollar. CDC is committed to supporting health departments and their funded community based organizations (CBOs) to develop and implement the most effective HIV prevention strategies and navigate any changes introduced by the new funding approach. For more detailed information, see capacity building.

The scope of CBA services for health departments and their funded CBOs encompasses the culturally and linguistically appropriate packaging and dissemination of best programmatic practices and tools, provision of training and technical assistance, and facilitation of peer-to-peer mentoring and support among health departments. CBA services are aligned with the programmatic categories and HIV prevention activities as delineated in funding opportunity announcement PS12-1201: Comprehensive HIV Prevention Programs for Health Departments.

Capacity building is accomplished through partnership between CDC staff and the following national CBA provider organizations:

AIDS Project Los Angeles
California STD/HIV Prevention Training Center
Center for Health and Behavioral Training (University of Rochester)
National Community Health Partners (formerly Arizona-Mexico Border Health Foundation)
National Minority AIDS Council

CBA services are also provided by the National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services (UCHAPS), and other CDC partners. The Capacity Building Assistance and National Network of Prevention Training Centers Services Directory provides further information about this cadre of CBA providers and their services.

CBA can be accessed by using the CBA Request Information System (CRIS). CRIS is a web-based system used to submit and track CBA requests. CDC directly funded CBOs, health departments, and CBA providers can submit their request via CRIS. Health department funded CBOs and prevention planning groups should submit CBA requests through their state or local health departments funded by CDC. Non-funded community stakeholders and Native American jurisdictions may directly contact CBA provider organizations to request services. CRIS can be accessed at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/CRIS2009. A list of upcoming CBA trainings is available on Effective Interventions. To obtain more information about training events in your area and to register, visit the CBA Training Events Calendar.

Funded through an inter-agency agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETCs) will serve as primary providers of capacity building services for health departments implementing expanded HIV testing.

Please consult with your Prevention Program Branch Project Officer to request capacity building assistance (CBA), technical assistance (TA), and/or CBA training and to discuss CBA/TA needs and resources.