DHAP Strategic Plan

DHAP's Strategic Plan 2011-2015 (the Plan) is DHAP’s blueprint for achieving its vision of a future free of HIV.  The Plan reflects the Division’s response to new opportunities and imperatives for HIV prevention created by critical shifts in the national, state, and local economic and policy environments, including the July 2010 release of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States (NHAS).  It embodies DHAP’s commitment to high-impact prevention using scalable, cost-effective interventions with demonstrated potential to reduce new infections, in the right populations, to yield a major impact on the epidemic.

Developing the Plan

Using the final recommendations from the April 2009 External Peer Review of DHAP Surveillance, Research, and HIV Prevention Programs report as a starting point, in 2010, 80 senior DHAP leaders (e.g., the Division Director, Deputy Directors, Associate Directors, Branch Chiefs, Team Leads, and other senior staff) participated in a 2½ day retreat to define the Division’s vision and mission and to identify the goals and objectives of the Plan.  These leaders twice reconvened for additional 2-day planning meetings, refining goals, objectives and strategies. 
During the summer and fall of 2010, staff representing a broad cross-section of the Division continued to review drafts and provide feedback, and several work groups formed to focus on finalizing specific aspects of the Plan.  DHAP also conducted two Division-wide employee surveys, the first in February/March 2010 and a second in November 2010, and shared drafts for comments and clearance with NCHHSTP.  At each stage in the process, all comments were carefully considered.

The Plan

The Plan focuses on maximizing DHAP’s effect on the epidemic and internal and external coordination and collaboration.  It calls for accountability at every level, strategic allocation of resources, and the development and use of objective planning and transparent decision-making frameworks across DHAP’s HIV prevention portfolio.  The Plan also underscores the important role of partnerships in both reducing HIV incidence and addressing the disparities that persist among populations and within communities.
The Plan is already making a difference in how the Division operates.  For example, DHAP:

• Supported the Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning project
• Funded 65 jurisdictions to enhance laboratory reporting of CD4 and viral load data
• Established an Office of Health Equity to provide leadership on understanding the determinants of and strategies for addressing HIV and AIDS inequities
• Supported a funding opportunity for programs targeted to Young Men of Color who have Sex with Men and Young Transgender Persons of Color that requires increased testing and linkage to care
• Announced a new health department funding opportunity that featured better geographic targeting of resources and a stronger focus on supporting the highest-impact prevention strategies.

Over the next 6 months, all DHAP branches and operating units will update work plans to map current activities to the Plan.  This information will allow DHAP leaders to ensure project alignment with the priorities identified during Plan implementation and guide decision-making. 
To download a copy of the DHAP Strategic Plan, click here .
DHAP Strategic Plan