New York State Interagency Task Force on HIV/AIDS
The Interagency Task Force on HIV/AIDS (IATF) is a multi-state agency task force dedicated to the prevention of HIV and to the care of persons with HIV/AIDS in New York State. The IATF provides an effective platform for networking and for sharing information to ensure that necessary services for persons affected and living with HIV/AIDS are available within state agencies’ service areas and regulatory jurisdictions.
The IATF was originally created by an Executive Order in 1983 to coordinate AIDS-related policies and activities among New York State agencies and to establish a working relationship with the New York State AIDS Advisory Council. Later, the Task Force was charged with several responsibilities, including identifying areas of service duplication, fragmentation, shortages and disparities, and for identifying and addressing emerging problem areas and for promoting efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Today, the IATF has several goals, including promoting efficiency and cost-effectiveness through cross-agency collaboration projects by sharing resources to enhance and create new HIV-related services. In addition, the Task Force keeps members updated on HIV/AIDS related issues and new state and national policies related to HIV and aging, disability, education, housing, health, mental health, developmental disabilities, employment, substance use, corrections and human rights.
The Task Force meets biannually and is chaired by the Director of the AIDS Institute/New York State Department of Health. Membership includes the commissioners and directors, or their designees, of all State agencies that serve individuals or groups at risk for HIV/AIDS:
- NYS Office for the Aging (SOFA)
- NYS Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services (OASAS)
- NYS Division of the Budget (DOB)
- NYS Council on Children and Families (CCF)
- NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)
- NYS Commission of Correction
- NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
- NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services
- NYS Department of Education (SED)
- NYS Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER)
- NYS Homes & Community Renewal
- NYS Department of Health (DOH)
- NYS Division of Human Rights
- NYS Department of Financial Services
- NYS Department of Labor
- NYS Department of Law
- NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH)
- NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities
- NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV)
- NYS Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs
- NYS Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance (OTDA)
- NYS Division of Veterans Affairs
- NYS Office of Victims' Services
Current collaborative activities include projects to increase employment for persons with HIV/AIDS; training and planning activities to address service needs of the increasing population of PLWH/A over age fifty; and the implementation of a New York State Public Health Law requiring NYS DOH to conduct annual reviews of policies and practices regarding HIV/AIDS and HCV among inmates at correctional facilities and jails.
Other examples of areas addressed by the Task Force include the National HIV/AIDS Strategy; implications of Federal Health Care Reform for New York State; Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines for HIV Treatment; Transformation of Medicaid in New York State; enactment of recent NYS Laws: Chapter 284 of the Laws of 2010 "Relates to Hypodermic Syringes and the Lawful Possession of Syringes" and Chapter 308 of the Laws 2010 "Relates to HIV Testing;" updates on state and federal funding; New York State's Opioid Overdose Prevention Program; HIV/AIDS related social marketing campaigns; HIV/AIDS and Aging in New York State.
