Project Title: Project PIE.

Grantee: YouthCare

Location: 2500 NE 54th St., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98105

Telephone: 206.694.4500; Fax 206.694.4509

Project Director: Lee Trevithick

Category: (A); Adolescent Care Demonstration and Evaluation Project.

Adolescents Targeted: Program targets street-involved, homeless and sexual minority youth.

Every day, youth are forced to leave their homes, or choose to leave because the alternative of remaining is unacceptable. In order to survive, street youth are forced to engage in a variety of high-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse, survival sex, and needle sharing. Consequently these youth are particularly vulnerable to infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

YouthCare will continue to provide a system of care that includes: HIV test counseling, outreach services, risk reduction counseling, case management services for youth with HIV and prevention case management services for those youth at high risk of HIV infection. YouthCare has added a youth empowerment component built on lessons learned by other Adolescent SPNS grantees. The youth who are enrolled in Project PIE have organized to form a social support group that will also provide treatment education. YouthCare will hire two HIV affected youth to provide leadership for the group and to help disseminate information on the lives of HIV positive youth to local, state, and federal policy makers.

In the past three years YouthCare has: established a system of free and anonymous adolescent specific test HIV antibody test counseling in Seattle which provides immediate access to prevention and early intervention case management services, participated in the establishment of a system for HIV positive non-disabled people; been a model for the integration of care services and prevention education services; and had HIV positive young people ask to create their own system of support and education.

YouthCare will continue to provide HIV test counseling, outreach, case management and youth development activities for the next two years. All collaborative efforts including referrals, HIV test counseling at local clinics for street-involved, homeless and sexual minority youth, and coverage at local youth drop-in centers will continue and hopefully be enhanced.

YouthCare will evaluate the program by combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Focus groups and anecdotal information will be collected from youth, staff, and other local service providers. YouthCare will evaluate the program in order to increase replicability in other geographical locations. YouthCare will prepare two papers on the model of service, as well as a semi-annual report, created by the youth that will be sent to local, state, and federal policy makers.