Strategies to Link, Engage, and Retain Men with HIV in Care: Implementation Technical Assistance Provider

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to award one cooperative agreement recipient to serve as the Implementation Technical Assistance Provider (ITAP). This funding opportunity has a companion funding opportunity to fund an Evaluation Provider. The two recipients will work collaboratively, but conduct distinct activities that support the overall initiative.

The proposed initiative will be comprised of one Implementation Technical Assistance Provider (ITAP), which will sub-award up to eight (8) implementation sites. The funded ITAP will solicit and select the implementation sites, as well as to identify emerging and evidence-informed interventions to be adapted and implemented by the implementation sites. The ITAP will be responsible for managing the subawards and providing implementation-specific technical assistance (TA) for the implementation sites.

The proposed initiative will use implementation science to adapt, implement, and evaluate the implementation of interventions that serve men with HIV who are not consistently engaged in care or experiencing barriers to staying in care. This initiative directly aligns with Ryan White Program 2030 (RWP2030), which is a renewed vision for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP). Building on the foundation of the RWHAP and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, the RWP2030 framework is designed to sustain high-quality care and treatment for people currently receiving services through the RWHAP while expanding efforts to identify and engage individuals with HIV who are undiagnosed or out-of-care.

The funded ITAP will manage the subawards, identify emerging and evidence-informed interventions to be adapted and implemented by the implementation sites, and provide implementation-specific TA to the implementation sites. The adaptation and implementation activities the ITAP will conduct will draw from frameworks and approaches developed in the field of implementation science including HAB's Implementation Science Framework. The initiative emphasizes: 1) rapid adaptation, implementation, and evaluation; 2) implementation at a broad scale to produce generalizable findings; 3) public release of dissemination products based on human-centered design and adult learning principles, which foregrounds sustainability, rapid dissemination of findings, and replication of best practices.