New York State: Two Groups Seek to Direct AIDS Care

Niagara County, N.Y.'s AIDS case management program has been cut out of the 2003 county budget. Two agencies -- AIDS Community Services of Western New York and Circle of Hope -- have expressed interest in taking over the service. The first group is Buffalo-based; the second a subsidiary of Lockport-based Niagara Hospice.

The case management program, which has been allocated two months' worth of funding to make the transition, serves 60 clients. "Most of our clients are on fixed incomes and don't have their own transportation," said Paul LaDouceur, director. He is one of five employees whose jobs will be eliminated. The agency's full-time van driver will work in another county department. LaDouceur, two case managers and an administrative assistant will be looking for work.

Clients will receive letters announcing the change, LaDouceur said. "We'll be breaking down the program and letting the clients know what their options are ... so they have their needs met and won't be left with nothing," he noted.

The program is largely state-funded, so New York state's AIDS Institute will decide which agency gets the program. The 2003 county budget would have allocated $267,099 to the program, including $66,583 from property taxpayers, $45,000 in state aid, and a $50,516 Ryan White grant. The two-month funding costs $48,256. "I think once they knew there was interest in the private sector, they saw an opportunity to divest themselves of the program," said Public Health Director Paulette M. Kline.

The county program will accept no new clients after January 1. Applicants will be referred to other community-based groups, according to Wanda Smiley, director of patient services for the County Health Department.

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