BOSTON HAPPENS

A program funded by the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration as a Special Project of National Significance

The "Boston Happens" program provides a network of care for HIV-positive, homeless, and at-risk youth, from street outreach to counseling and testing, to primary care, and HIV specialty care.

Project Director: Elizabeth R. Woods, M.D., M.P.H., Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, Phone 781.355.6495, Fax 781.730.0442, Email: woods@a1.tch.harvard.edu. The Boston Happens web site is located at: http://www.childrenshospital.org/adolescent/happens/.

Project Resources

The Boston Adolescent HIV Network Program: Early Interventions and Comprehensive Health Care for HIV Positive and At Risk Adolescents
Elizabeth Woods, M.D., M.P.H. Children's Hospital of Boston, MA.

Interdisciplinary Adolescent Health Newsletter: The Boston Adolescent HIV Network Program
The following newsletter is a collection of events of the lectures, articles, teen news,and updates on the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Interdisciplinary Adolescent Health Training Program, the Boston HAPPENS Program Network Meetings, the MCHB Adolescent Health Regional Advisory Committee and the Region 1 State Adolescent Health Coordinators.

Project Web Flyer

Boston HAPPENS [PDF]

Adolescent Project SPNS/Fax

Boston HAPPENS Creates City-wide Network of HIV Care for Youth

Supplement Features HRSA/HAB's SPNS Adolescent Care Projects

Project Materials Presented at Professional Conferences

The Boston HAPPENS Program: The Importance of Youth Involvement.
D Fox, E Woods, K Hunte, M Melchiono, P Keenan. Boston "HAPPENS"; Children’s Hospital Corporation, Boston. (National AIDS Update Conference, March 1998)

Youth Involvement in the Boston HAPPENS Program.
D.J. Fox, BS, P.M. Keenan, RN, BSN, M.W. Melchiono, RN, MS, C-FNP, D. Venable, E.R. Woods, MD, MPH, The Boston HAPPENS Program, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA. (National AIDS Update Conference, March 1998)

Health Services Utilization by Homeless and HIV-Positive Adolescents: An Innovative Model.
E Woods, M Melchiono, P Keenan. Boston "HAPPENS"; Children’s Hospital Corporation, Boston. (National AIDS Update Conference, March 1998)

The Evolution of an Adolescent-Specific Network of Care for HIV-Positive, Homeless and At-Risk Youth.
Elizabeth R. Woods, MD, MPH, Yvonne G. Lin, MS, Carla M. Bann, MA, Nerissa L. Abriam, BA, Maurice W. Melchiono, RN, MS, C-FNP, George J. Huba, PhD, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, The Measurement Group, Culver City, CA, and University of North Carolina, NC. (Society for Adolescent Medicine, March 1998)

Do High Risk Youth Use Targeted HIV Testing Services: Experience of a Program of Care for High Risk Youth.
Elizabeth Goodman, MD, Cathryn Samples, MD, MPH, Peter M. Keenan, RN, BSN, Durrell J. Fox, BA, Maurice Melchiono, RN, FNP, Elizabeth R. Woods, MD, MPH. Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Martha Eliot Health Center, Boston, MA. (Society for Adolescent Medicine, March 1998)

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for HIV Positive, Homeless, and At-Risk Youth.
Louise H. Chase, MSW, Elizabeth Goodman, MD, Peter M. Keenan, RN, BSN, Durrell Fox, BS, Cathryn L. Samples, MD, MPH, Robert Garcia, MSW, Margaret Kiwanuka, MSW, Jan Paradise, MD, Elizabeth R. Woods, MD, MPH, Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston Medical Center, Martha Eliot Health Center, Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center, Boston, MA. (Society for Adolescent Medicine, March 1998)

Evaluation of a Model Health Care for Homeless, At-Risk and HIV Positive Youth.
Woods, ER and Goodman, E. (American Public Health Association, November 1997)

Health Service Needs for HIV Positive and At-Risk Young Women.
Elizabeth R. Woods, MD, MPH, Cathryn L. Samples, MD, MPH, Maurice Melchiono, RN, MS, C-FNP, Peter M. Keenan, RN, BSN, Durrell J. Fox, BS, Louise Chase, LICSW, Michelle Burns, RN, CPNP, MPH, Jan Paradise, MD, Virginia Price, MEd, Lars Kula, MD, and Elizabeth Goodman, MD, Children’s Hospital, Martha Eliot Health Center, Justice Resource Institute, Boston Medical Center, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, and Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center, Boston, MA. (American Public Health Association, November 1997)

Providing Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to HIV Positive and Homeless Youth.
L. Chase, MSW, LICSW, E. Goodman, MD, P. M. Keenan, RN, BSN, R. Garcia, MSW, LICSW, V. Price, MEd, J. Paradise, MD, P. Wilson, M. Kiwanuka, MSW, LCSW, R. O’Brien, MD, E. R. Woods, MD, MPH, Boston HAPPENS Network Sites, Boston, MA. (American Public Health Association, November 1997)

Cross-Cutting Presentations and Abstracts

Overview of HRSA/HAB's SPNS Adolescent Care Grantees, January 1997
This presentation is an introduction to the nine Adolescent HRSA/HAB's SPNS Adolescent Care Grantees. In addition, Major Program Objectives and Selected Program Outcomes are outlined. [HTML / PDF]

Outreach Activities in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
This presentation is an introduction to the outreach strategies and models of the 10 adolescent-targeted projects. Examined are perceived outreach successes, challenges and agency achievements. [HTML / PDF]

Enrolled Clients in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
This presentation is an overview of targeted youth enrolled in the 10 adolescent-targeted projects. In addition, summaries of enrollment successes, challenges and lessons learned are included. [HTML / PDF]

Interventions Provided in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
This presentation is a summary of interventions provided to targeted youth. Included are perceived successes, challenges and lessons learned about providing individual youth services. [HTML / PDF]

Poster by the 10 Adolescent Care Projects: Alcohol Use In A Sample of Adolescents at High Risk for HIV
The following poster was given at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (July 19-24, 1997 in San Francisco, California).
[HTML / PDF]

Outreach to Adolescent Women with or At-risk for HIV
This presentation was made at the 1997 National Women and HIV Conference in Pasadena, California. [HTML / PDF]

A Profile of Adolescent Women With or At-Risk for HIV: Personal and Service Needs
This presentation was made at the 1997 National Women and HIV Conference in Pasadena, California. [HTML / PDF]

Abstract for the 10 Adolescent Care Projects: Alcohol Use In A Sample of Adolescents at High Risk for HIV
This paper was presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism. (July 1997 in San Francisco)

Abstract for the 10 Adolescent Care Projects: The Role of Case Management in Innovative HIV Programs for Youth
This paper was presented at HIV/AIDS '97 - The Social Work Response: The 9th Annual Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS (June 1997).

Innovative Services for Young Women: Addiction, Mental Health, and HIV
This paper was presented at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Conference on Women in Phoenix (September 1997).

Addiction and Related Psychosocial Issues among Young HIV-Positive Women
This paper was presented at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Conference on Women in Phoenix (September 1997).

Multi-site Evaluation Methods for 10 National Demonstration Projects on Adolescent HIV/AIDS Care
This poster, presented at Evaluation '98–the 1998 conference of the American Evaluation Association in Chicago, Illinois, describes a number of methods designed and implemented by The Measurement Group in the cross-cutting evaluation of HRSA/HAB's SPNS Adolescent Care Projects.

Evaluation of Client Retention in Services in 10 Adolescent HIV Programs
This poster, presented at Evaluation '98–the 1998 conference of the American Evaluation Association in Chicago, Illinois, shows patterns of retention in care by the 10 Adolescent Care Projects. In addition to overall retention, the presentation addresses two related questions: 1. When in a treatment episode do young people receive psychosocial counseling and peer support services?, and 2. How does utilization of case management affect other service utilization?

Cross-Cutting Papers

Cross-Cutting Evaluation Papers from the Adolescent HIV/AIDS Care Projects
These papers present cross-cutting evaluation results from the 10 HRSA SPNS Adolescent HIV/AIDS Care Projects. Results presented in these papers include those relating to the characteristics of thousands of young people served through this initiative, the services provided by these 10 innovative care models, and various outcomes related to service utilization patterns, retention, and other program impacts.

Cross-Cutting Reports

The Infrastructure for Adolescent HIV Services in Six Cities: A Cross-Cutting Evaluation of the Health Resources and Services Administration Special Projects of National Significance Program
This report summarizes the findings of adolescent care projects in six cities (San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Bridgeport, Seattle, and Birmingham) in relation to evaluating the service infrastructure for HIV-related youth services. The report looks at the type and quantity of HIV-related service availability for youth in each city as well as the barriers to providing such services. In addition, this report documents the cohesiveness of the service continuum as well as service provider consensus of HIV youth services design.

Youth-To-Youth–Peer Workers in HIV/AIDS Youth Programs: A Peer Development Guide
In 1993, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program funded ten national demonstration projects focusing on youth and adolescent HIV/AIDS services. Seven of these projects have collaborated to assemble a manual describing the best practices and lessons learned from programs that use peers in the development and delivery of HIV services. The manual also includes advantages and the challenges of youth involvement in service delivery. To view a flyer for the Peer Manual, click here.

Summary of the Journal of Adolescent Health Supplement on Ten Models of Adolescent HIV Care (August 1998)
Provides a summary, list of editors, and table of contents of the Journal of Adolescent Health Supplement on Ten Models of HIV Care. The supplement contains a Preface, information about the ten adolescent models of HIV care, a national consensus model for adolescent-targeted services, and articles about the HIV care models.

Report on Outreach Activities in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
A series of reports are being written about the activities of the 10 projects on adolescent-targeted HIV services funded in 1993 by the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. This first report examines the methods that the projects use to recruit adolescents with, or at high risk to acquire, HIV. The report was written by The Measurement Group in collaboration with the Adolescent Care Projects and HRSA staff. The report covers the period from 1993 to 1996.

Report on Enrolled Clients in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
A series of reports are being written about the activities of the 10 projects on adolescent-targeted HIV services funded in 1993 by the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. This second report examines the demographics, needs, and behaviors of the clients enrolled in HIV prevention and HIV treatment services. The report was written by The Measurement Group in collaboration with the Adolescent Care Projects and HRSA staff. The report covers the period from 1993 to 1996.

Report on Interventions Provided in 10 Adolescent-Targeted Projects for HIV/AIDS Services
A series of reports are being written about the activities of the 10 projects on adolescent-targeted HIV services funded in 1993 by the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. This third report examines the services provided to the clients enrolled in HIV prevention and HIV treatment services. The report was written by The Measurement Group in collaboration with the Adolescent Care Projects and HRSA staff. The report covers the period from 1993 to 1996.

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