Rhode Island: Federal Funding for AIDS Home Is Rejected Due to Flaw in Application

House of Compassion, a Cumberland home for people with AIDS, was declined $161,000 in Ryan White CARE Act funds by Rhode Island's Department of Health because of flaws in the home's grant application. The application was so flawed it compelled the grant review committee to second-guess what category of service the home was requesting, said John Fulton, associate director of the state health department's Division of Disease Prevention and Control.

Grant reviewers believed that House of Compassion's application "sounded" like requests for service types that would require the home to be licensed as an assisted living facility, the Woonsocket Call reported. However, the home is not an assisted living facility.

House of Compassion Director Colleen Scanlan said she will address the application's problems and seek alternate assistance from the health department. Since 1997, the home has received $30,000-$90,000 annually in federal Ryan White funds.

Last Thursday, the US Department of Health and Human Services told Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) that Rhode Island would receive over $3 million in HIV/AIDS health care grants, designated for medical care, support services and prescription drugs for AIDS patients.

Back to other news for April 8, 2004