Approved on: August 28, 2007 Colorado HIV and AIDS Prevention Grant Program (CHAPP) Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes June 20, 2007 Note: These minutes are a summary of the proceedings of the June 20, 2007 meeting of the Colorado HIV and AIDS Prevention Grant Program (CHAPP) Advisory Committee. Documents referenced in the minutes are available for public inspection at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Building A, Third Floor, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South, Denver, Colorado, or call (303) 692-2786 to request copies. Call To Order The June 20, 2007, CHAPP Advisory Committee meeting was called to order by Daniel Reilly (Chairperson) at approximately 2:15 p.m., at CDPHE. Members Present: Joshua Blum, Craig Chapin, Carolyn Gissendanner-Borwick, Antonio Olmos-Gallo, Daniel Reilly, Jo (Joan) Rosenquist. Excused Members: Sheana Bull Staff Present: Jean Finn and Richard Weinert, CDPHE, STD/HIV Section. Visitors Present: None Welcome Daniel Reilly welcomed committee members. Finalize CHAPP Material Review Process A draft version of the newly developed CHAPP Program Review Panel Documentation form was presented and discussed. In addition to the form, an instruction guide was passed out to Committee members outlining the procedures for Contract Monitors as well as CHAPP Program Review panel members (the Advisory Committee). The form is designed to be easy to use by contractors and streamlined to expedite the material review process. Materials for review will be received by CDPHE Contract Monitor’s, who will then make determinations based on the following: “The item is consistent with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Policy”, “The item is medically accurate”, and “The item is appropriate and acceptable to the targeted risk population for which it was created.” After Contract Monitors make their determinations, the materials will be forwarded on to CHAPP Program Review panel members for their input (and overall material approval or disapproval). The Advisory Committee asked that a “Conflict of Interest” check box be added to the form so that Advisory Committee members who have existing relationships with grantees can excuse themselves from reviewing materials that may constitute a conflict. Since some members may need to excuse themselves from voting, the rule for final approval is
a majority rule (and not a Quorum of 5 of 7), however, if all Advisory Committee members are reviewing materials, a quorum may be used to provide final approval. It was decided that revisions to the form be made per Advisory Committee input, shown to the Advisory Committee for final review, and then printed for use for all CHAPP-funded grantees to use for their projects. Materials that can be distributed to the CHAPP Program Review committee members (The Advisory Committee) electronically will be sent via e-mail. If the materials are posters, brochures, videos/DVDs, etc., that cannot be sent by e-mail, they will be sent by FedEx in order to arrive quickly and expedite the review process and ultimate final approval. CDPHE staff will be responsible for ensuring that Spanish-language materials are culturally and linguistically appropriate. It was decided by the Advisory Committee that materials previously approved by CDPHE within the past five (5) years, would not need to be reviewed again prior to use. Update on External Evaluation RFP Process The CHAPP Coordinator provided an update on the External Evaluation RFP process. As of June 20, 2007, the RFP is still under development, pending Advisory Committee input into the specifics of what is to be evaluated and how they would like to see the Evaluation conducted in terms of desired outcomes. At the April 4, 2007 Advisory Committee meeting it was determined that “the external evaluation of demonstration/innovative projects be focused more on qualitative [data] while the evidence-based/service delivery projects will be more focused on quantitative [data]”. During the June 20, 2007 meeting, a discussion took place that focused on the specific outcomes that the CHAPP Advisory Committee would like to see in the evaluation of funded projects. The committee discussed if they would like impact data to be gleaned from the evaluation (if possible, considering that incidence data and the total number of individuals served by all programs will be difficult information to collect due to the differences in funded projects and the short life-span of the projects so far), or if process data would be sufficient since the program is still in its infancy and data on it’s success at reaching intended populations would be paramount at this time. A long-term evaluation of the outcomes of CHAPP projects is desirable (e.g., Have HIV rates dropped due to these projects?), but not practical at this time since the program is new and saturation has not occurred. The Advisory Committee agreed that common measures be developed and utilized in the evaluation process. The Advisory Committee agreed to review the draft Evaluation RFP and provide feedback to the CHAPP Coordinator on how they would like to see evaluation conducted, and what exactly they would like to see evaluated. The Advisory Committee suggested that potential evaluation agencies that are submitting proposals receive documentation in the RFP on the locations/regions of these different projects so they could anticipate costs associated with meeting travel in Year 1 of the Evaluation. The CHAPP Coordinator agreed to create this document for the Advisory Committee. The Evaluation RFP will need to be complete, and ready to post by midSeptember so that adequate time can be given to start the Evaluation contract in late 2007.
Discuss Review Process for RFA for FY 2007-08 The RFA review process was outlined, and dates were determined for the Advisory Committee Team review. Applications for this cycle of funding are due on July 13, 2007 and the CDHPE Technical Review will begin on July 16, 2007, ending on July 20, 2007. After the CDPHE technical review is completed, the CHAPP Advisory Committee will review the applications individually and score them over a two-week period. Then on August 16, 2007 and August 20, 2007, the Advisory Committee will convene as a group to conduct the group review of potential applications. From there, final recommendations will be made on which agencies and projects will be funded, per CDPHE Executive Director’s discretion. Finalize Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Plans Capacity building and technical assistance (TA) were provided to agencies that were not funded in FY 2006-07. A number of agencies declined the capacity building/TA services offered, however, a number of non-funded agencies did request the service and have received capacity building and TA around grant writing, access to target populations and intervention selection. It is the hope of the Advisory Committee that the capacity building and TA services will help agencies to be more successful in their work. Feedback and Other Items CHAPP Advisory Committee members inquired about what level of information they could provide to potential CHAPP-funded grantees without feeling as though they have provided information that could give grantees an unfair advantage. It was decided that the proper method of having questions about RFA’s answered would be through the online posting of Questions & Answers on the CHAPP website. This way, questions can still be answered, but it will eliminate the possibility of anyone having an unfair advantage. ITAV, TransAction update: The CHAPP Advisory Committee requested an update on the status of It Takes a Village’s CHAPP project for FY 2006-07. The CHAPP Coordinator let the Advisory Committee know that the project has been given funding approval by the State Board of Health, and contract negotiations will begin soon. Set Next Meeting Date The committee agreed to meet on August 16, 2007 at noon and August 20, 2007 at noon to perform the team review of CHAPP applications. Locations of meetings will be set shortly. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.