An Atlanta peer counseling treatment-adherence program has been denied federal Ryan White funding for fiscal years 2007 and 2008, totaling more than $200,000, due to policy requirements governing such programs. But according to the AIDS Survival Project (ASP), its Peer 2 Adhere (P2A) program should be eligible to receive the federal funds.

ASP alleges that the Fulton County Ryan White Program's outside review committee botched its fiscal 2007 P2A grant application. ASP also contends it is inexplicable the 2008 application for P2A did not go through the review process after it was submitted. On two occasions, ASP has taken the P2A case before Fulton County Commissioner Rob Pitts.

P2A aims to improve treatment adherence by pairing ASP clients with other people who are living with HIV.

The review committee raised questions about P2A services in terms of expertise, whether the trainers had clinical or social services experience, said Jeff Cheek, director of the Fulton County Ryan White Program. "We currently have adherence counselors who are typically part of a medical team," he said. "What [ASP] was applying for were peers to do that type of adherence counseling." Cheek said reviewers were also concerned with efficiency, as "clients were asked to meet three or four times a month, which, to the reviewers, didn't seem doable." Cheek said ASP is free to apply for the grant again for fiscal 2009.

ASP Executive Director Melanie Sovine, who has worked more than a decade as a consultant on Ryan White compliance issues, said alternate funding sources have been found for P2A and other programs. Sovine cautioned that any AIDS agency would be wise to decrease its dependence on Ryan White money in the future, given the program's increased emphasis on primary care reimbursement.

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