Meeting of the
HIV HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PLANNING COUNCIL
OF NEW YORK
Thursday, February 26, 2026
3:00-4:40pm
By Zoom Videoconference
DRAFT MINUTES
Members Present: D. Klotz (Governmental Co-chair), D. Martin (Community Co-chair), B. Fields (Finance Officer), G. Angelopoulos, R. Babakhanian, V. Bell, A. Betancourt, R. Brown, G. Bruckno, M. Caponi, L. Cyrus, V. Decamps, J. Dudley, J. Edwards, R. Ford, L. Francis, M. Gilborn, J. Goldenbridge, C. Gomez, C. Graham, S. Hemraj, R. Henderson, J. Louis, DDS, M. Maia Soares, L. F. Molano, MD, B. Montes, J, Natt, C. Nuñez, J. Palmer, G. Plummer (ex-officio), J. Robles, M. Rodriguez, L. Sabashvili, S. Safo, MD, J. Schoepp, M. Sedlacek, D. Tider, L. Worrell
Members Absent: M. Bacon, M. Baney, J. Benitez, P. Carr, E. Kaywin, K. Laveille, N. Martin, J. Sanchez, S. Stallings, A. Tomlin, G. Ty
Staff Present: DOHMH: D. Saab, L. Moya Adames, A. Omeyoma, S. Kramer, A. Guzman, T. Leong-Pelrine, P. Padgen, H. K. Muk; Public Health Solutions: A. Shahi; CHAIN: A. Aidala
Agenda Item #1: Welcome/Introductions/Minutes/Announcements
Mr. Martin and Mr. Klotz opened the meeting followed by introductions and a roll call and a moment of silence in memory of pioneering HIV clinician Dr. Donald Kotler. Ms. Saab presented a slide show in honor of Black History Month commemorating the legacy of late Council members of African descent Ed Shaw, China Chung-Eddie, Willis Green, Daphne Hazel and Claire Simon. The minutes of the January 29, 2026 meeting were approved with no changes.
Agenda Item #2: Public Comment, Part I
Mr. Maia reminded everyone that the Consumers Committee’s Immigrant HIV Survey is still active. The survey results will help inform policy and recommendations based on people’s lived experience.
Ms. Montes noted the passing of April Watkins, a long-time PWH advocate who worked for many years at GMHC.
Agenda Item #3: Recipient Report
Ms. Kramer reported on the observance of HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day (PWH in more than 30 states face laws that target them). Also, February 7th was National Black HIV.AIDS Awareness Day. HRSA released their 2025 Year in Review, highlighting advancements made in their mission to improve health and access to care across the nation. Nearly 602,000 people with HIV were provided with health care and supportive services through Ryan White programs nationally.
The EMA received a Partial Notice of Award for Grant Year (GY) 2026 from HRSA. The EMA will receive $24.3M. Final awards will be processed as soon as HRSA receives the full 2026 appropriation amount for this program. The Recipient’s Research and Evaluation Unit has released the GY 2024 Enrollment Reports for RWPA in the EMA. The reports provide a breakdown of RWPA consumers by enrollment status, demographic makeup, and priority population. In GY 2024, there were 10,387 PWH served in the EMA by all RWPA programs.
The EMA’s Quality Management (QM) Committee met on January 27th to continue discussion on recent quality improvement trainings and begin preparing for the next iteration of the QM Plan. The committee began discussions on methods to evaluate the quality of services delivered through the RWPA program moving forward. The QM and Program Implementation Unit has begun preliminary planning on events for subrecipients and participating consumers to engage with one another and connect to learn more about RWPA services.
Mayor Mamdani announced during a press conference the appointment of Dr. Alister Martin as the New York City Health Department’s Commissioner, effective February 23rd. Commissioner Martin previously served as an emergency department physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris, and Fellow in the White House Office of Public Engagement.
DOHMH released a Dear Colleague letter on twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir for HIV PrEP, describing clinical recommendation and eligibility, minors’ right to sexual health care under New York State law, coverage under federal and New York State law, and recommendations by the New York City Health Department. Other initiatives announced include an updated snapshot of HIV among people over 50 and new RFPs for HIV prevention and testing services.
Agenda Item #4: Revised NYC Legal Services Directive
Mr. Natt introduced the NYC Legal Services directives approved by the Integration of Care (IOC) and Executive Committees. In 2026, this service category will be re-RFPed for new programs starting March 1, 2027, necessitating the updating of the service directives for the region. This was an opportunity for the IOC to align service directives with HRSA requirements, provide up-to-date evidence and community-informed guidance and resources, ensure that updates reflect the needs of PWH and address barriers to care, and integrate innovative service delivery strategies and tools to mitigate access barriers to meet the needs of clients. The IOC reviewed past service directive for updates, conducted literature review and scan of best practices, received presentations and data from the Recipient, assessed service utilization, client outcomes, and emerging needs, and incorporated findings from needs assessments and community feedback.
Ms. Saab explained that key updates made to all directives included: Apply the NY HIV Planning Council Framing Directive; stronger emphasis on connecting priority populations; reducing stigma, adoption of innovative service models, including telehealth-related strategies; and implementation of a closed loop system to track referrals and verify that clients were indeed linked to supportive services and non-RWPA allowable immigration services. The revised model also adds succession rights to housing assistance, expands anti-discrimination representation, expands family law to include guardianship, allows legal advocacy for debit and bankruptcy, allows tele-legal and home-based services, adds outreach and education components, and encourages development of medical-legal partnerships.
There was a discussion of payor of last resort issues and the ability of Legal Services providers to represent clients contesting denial of insurance claims. Mr. Babakhanian stressed the importance of having HIV-positive staff working for the Recipient.
A motion was made on behalf of the IOC Committee to accept the Revised NYC Legal Services Directive as presented. The motion was adopted 31Y-3N.
The Committee, chairs and especially Ms. Saab were thanked for their hard work creating the directives.
Agenda Item #5: GY 2026 Spending Scenario Plan
Ms. Gilborn introduced the GY 2026 spending scenario plan approved by the Priority Setting & Resource Allocation Committee (PSRA). The plan is a methodology for implementing a possible reduction in the 2026 grant award. The Labor & Health and Human Services (LHHS) bill signed into law maintains FY 2025 funding levels for: HIV prevention and surveillance and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative (EHE) at the CDC, and Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Parts A, B, C, D, and F, and EHE at HRSA. There is a $4 million (or 7%) cut to the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund. While it is not known how the MAI reduction will be implemented, PSRA assumed a prorated reduction of 7% in the EMA’s MAI award, which would result in a loss of $542K. The plan also accounts for up to a 2.5% reduction to the Base award, although this is unlikely given the appropriations and the change in formula funding from address at diagnosis to current address, which HRSA estimates would result in a 2% increase in the formula award over five years.
There is $652K in savings in the NYC portfolio from the Care Coordination contracts that start in March (out of a total $21M allocation), which can be used to offset a potential reduction to the award and pay for the FNS enhancement. The Tri-County region also has $226K in uncommitted funds from rescinded contracts in two categories (Early Intervention and Legal). If the award is reduced more than $652K, half of their uncommitted funds will be used to offset the reduction. Any available uncommitted funds will be allocated to TC Food & Nutrition services.
PSRA recommends permanently enhancing the allocation for Food & Nutrition Services (FNS) to expand capacity and address the rising demand and the cost of food. Current programs have been consistently spending their full allocation, plus enhancements from carryover, and food costs in NYC have risen 56% from 2012-2023.
If any additional funds are needed to cover a reduction to the award and the FNS enhancement, the plan reduces the lowest ranked program, NYC Early Intervention Services (EIS). EIS is currently funded at $3.7M and provided solely by the NYC DOHMH Sexual Health Clinics. DOHMH can provide the same level of service with a smaller allocation. Given that EIS is the lowest ranked category and testing is widely available in the EMA, PSRA will look in depth at the EIS allocation for the GY 2027 spending plan.
Mr. Klotz reviewed the spreadsheets showing the plan as described above.
A motion was made on behalf of the PSRA to accept the GY 2026 Spending Scenario Plan as presented. The motion was adopted 36Y-0N.
Mr. Klotz thanked the PSRA chairs and members for their hard work and thoughtful deliberations.
Agenda Item #6: Public Comment, Part II
Dr. Aidala gave out information on the National Week of Prayer for the End of HIV, which highlights faith-based initiatives to end the epidemic.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
