On Thursday, two Republican House members who help provide oversight for billions in domestic AIDS spending asked a federal agency to investigate allegations that some funds were misspent. Reps. Joe L. Barton (Tex.) and Greg Walden (Ore.) cited a Washington Post series that investigated nonprofit AIDS service organizations funded through the District of Columbia's Department of Health.
Much of the more than $25 million in awards questioned by the series was provided through the Ryan White Act. About 500,000 low-income US patients access HIV care and support through the act; the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) oversees the funding. In 2008, Barton said the Energy and Commerce Committee asked whether the federal government was monitoring to ensure proper spending of Ryan White grants. At the time, HRSA said it was conducting more site visits and enhancing training.
In their Feb. 4 letter to Mary Wakefield, HRSA's administrator, Barton and Walden requested a list of programs that have been cited in the past four years for improper management of Ryan White grants. They also asked for documentation of how HRSA has responded to such allegations. The representatives requested HRSA's response by mid-February.
HRSA will respond by the deadline, said the agency's Douglas Morgan. HRSA "works with Ryan White grant recipients who have experienced difficulties on several fronts and has bolstered efforts to offer effective assistance in a number of ways," Morgan said.
02/05/10
UNITED STATES: Lawmakers Probe Agency’s Oversight of AIDS Programs
Source: Washington Post:: Debbie Cenziper; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention