RARE Web Template
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
RARE: Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation Project RARE: Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

home | announcement | overview | examples | application

10 Additional RARE Sites to Receive Technical Assistance in Ongoing Effort to Support Communities in Enhancing HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Minority Populations

Applications Available in mid-November, Due at end of December, Awards in January for 2006 Implementation

Later this month, local public health agencies and community-based HIV/AIDS service providers will be invited to apply to participate in the next cohort of the Rapid Assessment/Rapid Evaluation (RARE) initiative. Developed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Office of HIV/AIDS Policy and now managed by the Office of Minority Health (OMH), the RARE initiative offers public agencies and community-based organizations (CBOs) technical assistance and modest financial support in implementing activities designed to collect qualitative data that will inform improvements to HIV prevention initiatives in minority communities.

Sites selected through this process will receive technical assistance from OMH staff or consultants on using the established RARE protocols. Up to $27,000 will be made available to site personnel implementing the RARE protocols. The funds will be provided by ESI, the contractor supporting HHS with the RARE initiative. As its title suggests, the initiative unfolds rapidly in participating communities—the established protocol takes 3 months. All sites must complete work by August 29, 2006.

Targeting HIV Prevention in Minority Populations

Since its first implementation in 1999, 45 cities have implemented the RARE project to improve local HIV/AIDS prevention and care services for minority populations. During this next phase of implementation, OMH seeks to continue and expand efforts to combat the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS in African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and other racial and ethnic minority communities.

Special Opportunity to Address HIV and Intimate Partner Violence

During this next phase of RARE funding 2 of the 10 sites selected will focus on the intersection of intimate partner violence and HIV infection in minority women. OMH is collaborating with the HHS Office on Women’s Health to support these sites. These sites will adapt RARE methods to explore this intersection of IPV as a risk factor for HIV infection or HIV status as a risk factor for IPV.

The RARE Methodology

The components of the RARE methodology include:

  • Rapid Assessments that describe and monitor the dynamics of the local HIV/AIDS epidemics and their effect on vulnerable populations. Approaches include observation, mapping, street intercepts, and focus groups, among others.
  • Rapid Responses to information yielded from the assessments that consist of implementation of evidence-based interventions, including policy changes, program and/or service modifications, and the development of new strategies to intervene in the evolving HIV/AIDS crisis in minority communities.
  • Rapid Evaluations that monitor the effectiveness of RARE-inspired changes in local public health planning, practices, and outcomes.

Performance Requirements

Sites funded under this phase of the RARE project agree to the following:

  • Identify two (2) specific minority populations that will be the focus of the RARE initiative. Target populations are racially and ethnically-specific, behaviorally-specific, and are usually concentrated in a region not larger than 22 square blocks.
  • Send the project leader to a 2-day orientation in Washington, DC, in either February or March 2006 (only 2 orientations will be offered). Travel and lodging costs will be covered.
  • Convene a four-day RARE methods training for your “field team” (a coordinator plus 3-6 members). The training, lead by an HHS-provided trainer between March and May 2006, provides an opportunity to build knowledge and skill of the team members as well as adapt RARE methods to the focus populations.
  • Initiate the 3-month project cycle within 45 days following the onsite training of field team members and not later than May 29, 2006.
  • Present findings and recommendations to the project’s Community Advisory Committee as well as the local Title I Planning Council.
  • Prepare a brief report (10-20 pages, format provided) on findings and what changes to prevention and/or intervention services are planned as a result of the findings within 30 days of completing the project and not later than August 30, 2006.

Eligible Entities

OMH recognizes that both public agencies and community-based organizations are engaged in important efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS in minority populations across the nation. Both types of entities are thus invited to engage in the 2006 RARE initiative. A cornerstone of the RARE initiative is encouraging and facilitating cooperation and collaboration among public health and other local agencies and community-based organizations working with vulnerable populations. Applicants must be within a designated Ryan White CARE Act Title I Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) or be designated an Emerging Community (EC) under the Act. Applications from providers of prevention, treatment and/or care services for minorities at risk of HIV infection or living with HIV/AIDS in rural or other underserved communities may also submit an application.

Application Process

Applications will be available on or about November 20, 2005. If interested in receiving an application, please email RARE@esi-dc.com. Applications will also be posted at www.esi-dc.com/RARE. Interested agencies or organizations must prepare a brief application which will be due on or before Friday, December 30, 2005. OMH anticipates making decisions by mid-January so that trainings of field team coordinators from chosen sites can take place in Washington, DC, in February and March.

For information, visit www.esi-dc.com/RARE.

home | announcement | overview | examples | application