Achievements & Lessons Learned-H: Indiana Community AIDS Action Network

Knowledge Item: CA-Initiative Impact-99H
Major Achievements and Lessons Learned: 1994-1999

Indiana Community AIDS Action Network

The Indiana Community AIDS Action Network (ICAAN) project helped reduce discriminatory barriers to employment, care, housing, and other social services faced by individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

In 1999, the Evaluation and Dissemination Center asked each project to state its major achievements and the lessons it had learned from conducting the project. Those stated achievements and lessons learned are reproduced here (with minor editing) as reported to the Evaluation and Dissemination Center. The summary statements given here are those aspects of the program's experiences that the Project Director wished to emphasize.

*Achievement 1:* Reduced HIV-related discrimination in Indiana.
Key Elements for Success: a) Using a multifaceted approach, including prevention education, public policy advocacy, individual advocacy, coalition-building, and grass-roots organizing to reach out to Indiana’s citizens. b) Providing a mechanism to identify, prioritize, and develop strategies to address various HIV-related public policy concerns.	Factors that Limited Success: None listed.	Factors that Ensured Success: None listed.

Achievement 2: Provided legal advocacy services to 120 people throughout the State of Indiana.
Key Elements for Success: a) Having available legal staff to provide services. b) Grass roots organizing efforts.	Factors that Limited Success: Challenges in establishing a referral network of lawyers to do pro-bono work.	Factors that Ensured Success: a) Having a committed staff. b) Developing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders including policy makers, service providers, and consumers.

*Achievement 3:* Increased community awareness about legal rights of people with HIV by providing training to service providers and consumers.
Key Elements for Success: Training permitted expansion of the legal service delivery network and establishing greater service accessibility at the local level.	Factors that Limited Success: Educating individuals who are traditionally not receptive to persons with HIV, such as employers and Department of Corrections staff.	Factors that Ensured Success: Having a committed staff.

*Achievement 4:* Created resource book, A Legal Handbook for Persons Living with HIV Disease in Indiana, 2nd ed.
Key Elements for Success: a) Having expertise to compile a user-friendly resource. b) Distribution facilitated by collaboration with the HIV/AIDS Legal Project.	Factors that Limited Success: None listed.	Factors that Ensured Success: None listed.

1. Lesson Learned: Direct litigation services to consumers and working for policy change were effective strategies to reduce discriminatory barriers for persons with HIV.

How related to achievements: Cases could be resolved without costly litigation, through letters, mediation, arbitration, negotiation, or phone calls.

2. Lesson Learned: Training is a critical method of increasing awareness of legal rights for people living with HIV.

How related to achievements: These strategies educated consumers about their legal rights, thereby providing empowerment and support to the clients. These strategies also enabled ICAAN staff to educate potential discriminators (e.g., landlords, employers)

3. Lesson Learned: Legal advocacy is often misunderstood by institutions and individuals alike.

How related to achievements: While the need for case management or medical services for people with HIV is clear, many institutions and individuals, especially policy makers and funding sources, are unsure about the need for legal advocacy among people with HIV. The achievements of the Indiana Community AIDS Action Network were necessary to increase awareness and understanding of the need for legal advocacy among people living with HIV.

Completed By: Lisa A. Melchior, Ph.D.
Last Updated: July 1999

Project Resource Page

Indiana Community AIDS Action Network

Evaluation Data

Service Population Demographics

Last Updated: August 02, 2001; data through June 15, 1999; analyses conducted January 2000.

Knowledge Base Citation: The Knowledge Base and this Knowledge Item were designed and authored by G. J. Huba, Ph.D.; in collaboration with Lisa A. Melchior, Ph.D.; A. T. Panter, Ph.D.; and the staff of The Measurement Group. Cite this work as "Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., and Panter, A. T. (1998 - 2001). The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care. On the World Wide Web: http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com."

Questions or Comments: Contact The Measurement Group.

Use of Knowledge Base Information: Acceptable Uses and Limitations.

Collaborators from Participating Projects: Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee 1999.

Participating Projects: This Knowledge Base is based on the service delivery experiences of 27 Cooperative Agreement Projects on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care. These projects and the Evaluation and Dissemination Center which produced this Knowledge Base were funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) as Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) between 1994 and 1999.

Why This Evaluation was Conducted: Editorial.

More Information: Design of this Knowledge Base.

Recommended Citation Format for Web Materials: American Psychological Association Publication Manual Section, Revised 2001.

Work on the Knowledge Base and the cross-cutting evaluation was supported in part by Grant Number 5 U90 HA 00030-05 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau's (HAB) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS). The contents of this Knowledge Base are solely the responsibility of The Measurement Group and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HRSA/HAB's Special Projects of National Significance nor may they represent the positions of the individual grantees whose projects are included in the cross-cutting evaluation.