Virginia Community HIV Planning Group Seeks New Members!
The Virginia Community HIV Planning Group (CHPG) needs new members. The CHPG works with the Virginia Department of Health to develop and monitor Virginia’s Integrated HIV Services Plan to help end the HIV epidemic and improve the health of people with HIV. The Plan will guide our work over the next five years.
We are looking for members among people with HIV, people vulnerable to HIV, HIV care and prevention providers, and health departments. We also need people from agencies that provide mental health and substance use treatment, housing, social services, and other services used or needed by the people we serve. We are especially looking for people from communities of color, people from the Northern and Central regions of Virginia, as well as men and those who fall outside of the gender binary. At least 30% of the CHPG are people with HIV. Community voices are key, so the group does have attendance rules.
The CHPG meets six times per year on Thursdays or Fridays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in Richmond. Members who live outside of the meeting area will receive a hotel room and will be reimbursed for travel costs and meals. Lunch will be served.
For more information or to read the group bylaws, please go to the CHPG webpage.
The application does ask personal and sensitive questions so we can select a diverse group of members. We keep applications in a secure system, and they are only seen by the Membership Committee and certain VDH staff.
If you have any questions, please contact: Ashley Yocum, Care Services Planner, at ashley.yocum@vdh.virginia.gov, or Olivia Allison, Program Specialist, at olivia.allison@vdh.virginia.gov.
The new site for Resource Connections has launched! With the relaunch we've also rebranded it to call it “The RC” in short. Call it whichever you prefer – we'll know what you mean!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced another 12-month extension to the Strengthening STD Prevention and Control for Health Departments (STD PCHD) grant. The extension will cover the period of March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2027.
Mpox cases continue to occur primarily in men. Mpox also disproportionately affects communities of color. Mpox cases have occurred in all five state health regions, with the greatest number of cases reported from Virginia’s Northern and Central health planning regions (82%).
On September 30, 2025, DDP received a surprising notice of award (NoA) for the HIV Medical Monitoring Project (MMP). Prior funding for MMP ended on May 31, 2025, and we were told the grant would not be renewed. Therefore, DDP ended the program and MMP staff were unfortunately laid off. Due to the unexpected nature of this new award, the back date of the project period to 6/1/25, and current federal government shut down, the remainder of the first year, or grant year 1, will be used to recruit staff and re-establish the program. DDP is awaiting further guidance from CDC, which will occur after the resolution of the federal government shutdown.
DIS (Disease Intervention Specialist) Recognition Day was Friday, October 3. This special day is observed nationally each year to promote the special work that our DIS do within our communities. The National Coalition for STD Directors, VDH, and DDP had blog postings for the occasion and promoted or shared posts and graphics on social media.
The Resource Connections website is being relaunched with a fresh new look and a new name — The RC: Resource Connections — on the Connect 211 platform! Along with the updated design, the site will feature a new logo and URL.