Glossary - Administrative Page

Term	Definition
AAC	The AIDS Action Council provides media and policy focus to federal AIDS legislative and policy issues.
AAR	Annual Administrative Report. The AAR is required of all CARE Act Title I grantees, and provides information on agencies funded by CARE Act Title I.
ACMS	Automated Case Management System (IMACS). ACMS is a corporation that developed IMACS.
ACRS	AIDS Contractor Reporting System. ACRS is used by some providers of outpatient medical care in Los Angeles County to report the number of clients and services provided.
ACTG	AIDS Clinical Trial Group. A national group that advises the National Institutes of Health on clinical trials related to HIV/AIDS treatments.
ADA	Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal legislation designed to protect and ensure the rights of the disabled. The ADA protects people with HIV and AIDS.
ADAP	AIDS Drug Assistance Program. ADAP is supported by Title II of the CARE Act. In California, ADAP is funded by the Title II ADAP set-aside, state general funds, Title II general funds and a mandatory manufacturer’s rebate.
ADHC	Adult Day Health Care. A licensed category of care administered by the State of California.
AETC	AIDS Education Training Centers. The AETC are supported by Part F of the CARE Act and are responsible for providing AIDS education to health care professionals.
AFDC	Aids to Families with Dependent Children.
AGPA	Associate Governmental Program Analyst
AHF	AIDS Healthcare Foundation
AHPA	Associate Health Program Advisor
AIAC	American Indian Alaskan Native
AIDS	Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Originally called GRID (gay related immune deficiency), the term “AIDS” was proposed by Bruce Voeller and adopted in July 1982.
AJR	Assembly Joint Resolution
AMCWP	AIDS Medi-Cal Waiver Program. Administered by the State of California, AMCWP supports in-home health and attendant care.
ANONYMOUS HIV TESTING	Testing a person for HIV without the person having to give personal identifying information; all specimens are marked with a code number and cannot be linked to the person. Positive anonympus HIV tests are not reportable.
ANTIBODY	Protein molecule produced by white blood cells to bind up and disable infectious agents, such as viruses and bacteria.
ANTIGEN	Substance - such as a virus or bacterium - that provokes an immune response when introduced into the body
ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY	Any drug, agent or therapy used against HIV or other retroviruses. An antiretroviral drug is any compound that stops or suppresses the reproduction or activity of HIV (or another retrovirus) in a patient’s bloodstream.
APHA	American Public Health Association
API	Asian and Pacific Islanders. A category to describe the racial/ethnic characteristics of individuals.
APLA	AIDS Project Los Angeles
ARC	AIDS Related Condition (Complex). Formerly used to denote a medium acuity of HIV disease.
ARF	Adult Residential Facility. A licensed category of care administered by the State of California. The Office of AIDS Programs and Policy (OAPP) maintains 2 ARF contracts.
ARS	Acute Retroviral Syndrome
ASC	AIDS Service Center
ASO	AIDS Service Organization
ASTHO	Association of State and Territorial Health Officers
ATS	Alternative Test Site, Anonymous Test Site. Anonymous testing for HIV is provided at ATS.
AUTHORIZING COMMITTEE	The committee of either the House of Representatives or U.S. Senate responsible for drafting legislation. The authorizing committees for health related matters are usually the Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of the U.S. Senate.
AZT	Azidothymidine (Zidovudine). The first medication approved for anti-retroviral therapy.
BCP	Budget Change Proposal. Following submission of the annual State of California budget, BCP are proposed by members of the legislature and, less often, of the Administration.
BHS	Behavioral Health Services
BRGS	Behavioral Risk Group(s) is an organizing principle for planning care and prevention services. The individuals to be targeted for services are organized by behavior they have in common.
BY	Budget Year. The number of months associated with a budget period. Budget years are not always twelve months long, do not always begin in January and frequently vary among funding sources.
CAEAR COALITION	Cities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief Coalition. Established in 1991, CAEAR advocates for the legislative, administrative, budgetary, appropriations and public policy interests of Title I and III consumers, grantees, planning councils and community-based providers.
CANDIDIASIS	Fungus that usually infects the mucous membranes, commonly occurring in the mouth (thrush) or in the vagina (yeast membrane). These infections usually result in painful or burning red lesions with or without white spots.
CAPS	Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. A university-based research program located in San Francisco.
CARE ACT	Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990, amended and reauthorized in 1995 and again in 2000.
CARE/HIPP	Health Insurance Premium Payment. Funded by Title II of the CARE Act and administered by the OA. CARE/HIPP will pay the insurance premium costs for eligible clients with HIV/AIDS. CARE/HIPP cannot be used to purchase a new insurance policy.
CASC	Community Assessment Service Centers.
CBA	Caring for Babies with AIDS
CBC	Congressional Black Caucus
CBO	Community Based Organization. Usually a non-profit organization.
CCLAD	California Conference of Local AIDS Driectors.
CCLHO	California Conference of Local Health Officers
CCU	Crack Cocaine Users
CD4	One of two protein structures on the surface of a human cell that allows HIV to attach, enter, and thus infect a cell.
CD4 CELL COUNT	The most commonly used surrogate marker for assessing the state of the immune system. As CD4 cell count declines, the risk of developing opportunistic infections increases. The normal range of CD4 cell counts is 500 to 1500 per cubic millimeter of blood. CD4 counts should be rechecked at least every six to 12 months if CD4 counts are greater than 500/mm3. If the count is lower, testing every three months is usual.
CDBG	Community Development Block Grant. A federal program designed to support housing and related services. Typically, the CDBG program is coordinated with local HOPWA programs.
CDC	The Atlanta, Georgia based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It administers HIV/AIDS prevention programs including the HIV Prevention Community Planning process, among other programs. It also monitors and reports infectious diseases, administers AIDS surveillance grants and publishes epidemiological reports such as the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
CDE	California Department of Education
CFR	Code of Federal Regulation
CHAC	California HIV Advocacy Coalition. An umbrella advocacy organization for AIDS service organizations, government agencies and individuals with AIDS.
CHEAC	County Health Executive Association of California
CHHS	Commission on Hiv Health Services
CHIPTS	Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services
CHPG	California HIV Planning Group Formed by the California Office of AIDS (OA) by merging the CCWG and the CPWG (Comprehensive Care Working Group and Community Prevention Working Group) at the end of 1999, the CHPG advises the OA on a wide variety of planning and policy issues.
CMP	Case Management Program. A designation used by the State of California for funded programs.
COB	Close of Business
COBRA	Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. Among other policies, COBRA governs the continuation of insurance following termination of employment.
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING	The process of determining the organization and delivery of HIV services; strategy used by a planning body to improve decision making about services and maintain a continuum of care for PLWH
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE	A conference committee is typically created when legislation passed by one House of Congress is significantly different from the legislation passed by other House. In the reauthorization of the CARE Act in 2000, the version of the CARE Act passed by the House of Representatives was significantly different from the version passed by the Senate. Although these differences would have in most circumstances caused a conference committee to be created, differences were resolved without a conference committee.
CONFIDENTIAL HIV TESTING	Testing a person for HIV where his or her name is known or given; specimens are marked with a code number, but can be linked to a name. Positive confidential HIV tests are reportable.
CONSORTIUM (HIV CARE CONSORTIUM)	A regional or statewide planning entity established by many State grantees under Title II of the CARE Act to plan and sometimes administer Title II services; an association of health care and support service providers that develops and delivers services for PLWH under Title II of the CARE Act
CPG	A regional or statewide planning entity established by many state grantees under Title II of the CARE Act to plan and sometimes administer Title II services; an association of health care and support service providers that develops and delivers services for PLWH under Title II of the CARE Act
CPR	Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
CPWG	California Prevention Working Group. A CPG created by the State of California. The CPWG merged into the CHPG in 2000.
CQI	Continuous Quality Improvement
CRAS	Community Risk Assessment Survey
CRC	Community Resource Center (for referrals)
CSAP	Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
CSAT	Center for Sunstance Abuse Treatment
CSW	Commericial Sex Worker
CTRPN	Counseling, Testing, Referral and Partner Notification
CTS	Confidential Testing Site
CUMULATIVE AIDS RATE	The cumulative number of persons reported with AIDS during a specified period divided by the total population at the midpoint of that same period. Example: Cumulative number of AIDS cases reported in 1999- 2001 ÷ 2000 LA county population (x 100,000).
DCFS	Department of Children and Family Services
DDD	Date, Design and Development
DHHS	Department of Health and Human Services
DHS	Department of Health Services
DHS/OA	Department of Health Services/Office of AIDS
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic Acid. A molecule that is the basis of heredity.
DOC	Department of Corrections
DOE	Department of Education.
DPH	Department of Public Health
DPSS	Department of Public Social Services
DRUG RESISTANCE	Reduction in a pathogen’s sensitivity to the effects of a particular drug or an increase in the ability of the pathogen to resist the action of a drug. Resistance is thought to result mainly from genetic mutation. In HIV, mutations can change the structure of viral enzymes and proteins so that an antiretroviral agent can no longer interact with the protein to block viral replication.
DSS	Division of Service Systems The entity within HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau responsible for administering Title I and Title II of the CARE Act, including AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
DTC	Drug Treatment Center
EIA	Enzyme Immunoassay
EIP	Early Intervention Program
EIS	Early Intervention Services. Applied in the outpatient setting. Assures of a continuum of care, which includes (1) identifying persons at risk for HIV infection and offering to them counseling and testing services, and (2) providing lifelong comprehensive primary care for those living with HIV/AIDS.
ELISA	(Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay): The most common test used to detect the presence of HIV antibodies in the blood, which are indicative of ongoing HIV infection. A positive ELISA test result must be confirmed by another test called a Western Blot.
EMA	Eligible Metropolitan Area. The geographic area eligible to receive Title 1 CARE Act funds. The Census Bureau defines the boundaries of the metropolitan area while AIDS cases reported to the CDC determines eligibility. Some EMAs include just one city and others are composed of several cities and/or counties; some EMAs extend over more than one state.
EMSA	Eligible Metropolitan Statistical Area
EPI	Epidemiology
EXPOSURE	Contact with a factor that is suspeted to influence the risk of a person developing a particular disease
FI	Fiscal Intermediary
FIDU	Female injection drug user
FILIBUSTER AND FILIBUSTER PROOF	Filibuster is a little used Senate device to slow down and (or) defeat a piece of legislation. Here, a Senator begins speaking on the Senate floor and never relinquishes his time to any other Senator or business. The Senator must remain in the Senate speakers’ well and must continue to speak throughout the process. This device is avoided where a bill or legislation already enjoys the support of a minimum 61 Senators.
FNP	Family Nurse Practitioner
FY	Fiscal Year. See also Budget Year
GAO	General Accounting Office
GENE	A unit of heredity or a region of DNA or RNA that controls a discrete hereditary characteristic.
GENETIC CODE	The universal language in which genetic instructions are written in all living things.
GENOME	The totality of genetic information belonging to an organism, the complete set of genes. The human genome is composed of three billion bases of DNA, while the HIV genome is approximately 10,000 bases of RNA.
GENOTYPE	The genetic constitution (gene type) of an organism, as contrasted with the physical manifestation (phenotype) that the genes produce.
GENOTYPING	The action to determine the genetic constitution of an individual by sequencing the genetic code. In HIV, a genotyping assay is performed in order to establish what the sequence is and what mutations are present, which may be associated with the drug resistance.
GHPP	Genetically Handicapped Person Program
GLAD	Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness
GLI	Group Level Interventions
GRANTEE	The recipient of state or federal funds responsible for administering the funds.
HAB	HIV/AIDS Bureau. The entity within HRSA responsible for administering the CARE Act.
HARRT	(Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy): Aggressive anti-HIV treatment usually including a combination of protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors whose purpose is to reduce viral load to undetectable levels.
HCBC	Home and Community Based Care. A model of case management services funded by the State of California. See also CMP.
HERR	Health Education Risk Reduction
HFCA	Health Care Financing Administration.
HICCP	Health Insurance Continuum of Coverage Program
HICP	Health Insurance Continuation Program
HIPP	Health Insurance Payment Premium
HIRS	HIV Information Resources System
HITS	HIV/AIDS Interface Technology System
HIV	Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HIV/EIS	(HIV Early Intervention Services/Primary Care): Applied in the outpatient setting. Assures a continuum of care which includes (1) identifying persons at risk for HIV infection and offering to them counseling and testing services, and (2)providing lifelong comprehensive primary care for those living with HIV/AIDS The Health Resources and Services Administration is the agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that administers all components of the Ryan White CARE Act.
HMO	Health Maintenance Organization
HOLD (“PUT A HOLD ON LEGISLATION”)	Holds are generally a prerogative of all Senators. Once a secret action and noted Senate tradition, it is now sometimes publicized. However, the Majority Leader may not honor it in all instances. A Senator deciding to prevent a piece of legislation from being considered can place a hold on it and theoretically prevent any legislation or vote on it until the hold is lifted. Such a hold can sometimes be indefinite where it is coordinated such that when one Senator’s hold is removed, another Senator can attach a new one in its place.
HOP	Homeless Outreach Program. Los Angeles County CBO.
HOPWA	Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS. A federal program designed to support housing and related services for people with HIV and their families. The City of Los Angeles is the grantee for HOPWA funds to be used in the County of Los Angeles.
HPI	Health Promotion Institute. Los Angeles County CBO
HPV	Human Papilloma Virus
HRSA	The Health Resources and Services Administration is the agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that administers all components of the Ryan White CARE Act.
HTPP	HIV Transmission Prevention Project
ICF	Intermediate Care Facility
IDU	Injection Drug User
IGA	Intergovernmental Agreement
IHMC	In-Home Medical Care
IHSS	In-Home Support Service
ILI	Individual Level Interventions
INCIDENCE	The number of new cases of a disease that occur during a specified time period.
INCIDENCE RATE	The number of new cases of a disease per population per specified time period often expressed per 100,000 population.
ITP	Invitation to Participate
IV	Intravenous
IVDU	Intravenous Drug User
JCAHCO	Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations
KABB	Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviors — used in outcome measurement of HIV programs
KARNOFSKY PERFORMANCE STATUS SCALE	Scale that measures physical function (activities of daily living). The Karnofsky scale is often used to assess eligibility for in-home or other supportive services.
KDMC	King Drew Medical Center (formerly Martin Luther King, Jr./Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Medical Center).
KS	Kaposi's Sarcoma, a form of cancer associated with HIV disease.
LA CADA	Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse (CBO)
LAFAN	Los Angeles Family AIDS Network. LAFAN is a CARE Act Title IV grantee.
LAO	Legislative Analyst's Office. The LAO provides objective analysis of legislation and policy options for the State of California.
LCSW	Licensed Clinical Social Worker
LEAD AGENCY	The agency within a Title II consortium responsible for contract administration; also called a fiscal agent.
LEADERSHIP(HOUSE OF REP.)	Republican House Congressional leaders, who control House schedules, sometime chair the various committees and manage its overall legislative process. Dennis Hastert (R- Illinois) is the current House Speaker while Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) is his Democratic counterpart.
LEADERSHIP(SENATE)	Republican Senate Congressional leaders, who control Senate schedules, sometime chair the various committees and manage its overall legislative process. Majority Leader is currently Trent Lott (R-Mississippi). The Democratic Senate Minority Leader is Thomas Daschle (D-South Dakota).
LHJ	Local Health Jurisdiction
LIG	Local Implementation Group. See CPG
LOI	Letter of Intent
LVN	Licensed Vocational Nurse
MAI	Minority AIDS Initiative. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) took leadership in 1998 to create the CBC Initiative, now known as the Minority AIDS Initiative, a source of funding for HIV/AIDS care and prevention services to communities of color.
MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT	Requirement of the CARE Act Title I and II to maintain expenditures for HIV-related services and activities at a level equal to that of the preceding year.
MCWP	Medi-Cal Waiver Program. A Medi-Cal waiver is an agreement to allow federal Medicare funds to be used to support services not always supported by Medicare. Applicants are generally required to demonstrate cost neutrality or cost effectiveness to secure a waiver.
MFT	Marriage and Family Therapist (formerly MFCC), a certification given by the State of California.
MGA	Master Grant Award. A mechanism used by the State of California to allocate funds to local health jurisdictions.
MICRS	Medically Indigent Care Reporting System
MLB	Multicultural Liaison Board. Convened and supported by the State of California Office of AIDS, the MLB reviews materials for cultural appropriateness and likely effectiveness and advises the OA.
MMWR	Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. A publication of the CDC. The first cases of what we now know as AIDS were reported in the MMWR on June 5, 1981.
MOA	Memorandum of Agreement
MOE	See Maintenance of Effort
MOU	Memorandum of Understanding
MSM	Men who have Sex with Men. MSM defines individual by behavior, and is inclusive of gay and bisexual men, as well as those men who have sex with other men but do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual.
MSMW	Men Who Have Sex With Men and Women. See also MSM.
MTU	Mobile Testing Unit
MUTATION	A process by which a gene undergoes a structural change. For example, a genetically different form of HIV may have different growth properties, or be less susceptible to a drug.
NAPWA	The National Association of People with AIDS. It represents the health public policy, HIV-treatment and prevention issues of people living with HIV disease.
NASTAD	The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors represents the state AIDS Directors on legislative, administrative, policy, budget, and appropriation issues.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT	A systematic process to determine the service needs of a defined population; a definition of the extent of need, available services, and service gaps by population and geographic area.
NEP	Needle Exchange Program
NGO	Non-Governmental Organization
NIAID	National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease
NIDA	National Institutes on Drug Abuse
NIH	(The National Institutes of Health). The 23 individual institutes that collectively provide the largest source of federally biomedical and behavioral research. Includes, among others, the Office of AIDS Research, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH).
NIJ	National Institute of Justice
NIMH	National Institute of Mental Health
NLM	National Library of Medicine
NMAC	The National Minority AIDS Council provides technical assistance to community-based minority providers, public policy support and sponsors the annual US conference on AIDS.
NNAAPC	National Native American AIDS Prevention Center
NORA	(National Organizations Responding to AIDS). About 150 organizations- AIDS specific and non-AIDS specific-who advocate at the national level on AIDS policy and appropriations.
NP	Nurse Practitioner
OA	Office of AIDS. The entity within the California Department of Health Services responsible for planning and administration for AIDS services within the state.
OAPP	Office of AIDS Programs and Policy. The entity within the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health responsible for planning and administration for AIDS services within Los Angeles County. OAPP is the grantee for CARE Title I and CDC funding in Los Angeles County.
OASIS	Outpatient AIDS Services Integrated System (AIDS Clinic at King Drew Medical Center).
OLL	Office of Legislative Liaison
OMB	(Office of Management and Budget). Office within the Federal executive branch, which prepares the President’s annual budget, develops the Federal government’s fiscal program, oversees administration of the budget, and reviews government regulation.
OMH	The Office of Minority is a component of the Office of the Secretary (OS) within the Department of Health and Human Services. It attempts to provide support to and focus on the many health issues that disproportionately impact communities of color.
ONAP	Office of National AIDS Policy. Agency created (within the White House), to provide high-level focus on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTION	An infection or cancer that occurs especially or exclusively in persons with weak immune systems due to AIDS, cancer or immunosuppresive drugs such as corticosteroids or chemotherapy. Also more loosely termed Opportunistic Infection (OI)
PACHA	Preidential Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS
PBM	Pharmacy Benefits Manager. Usually a for-profit corporation that ensures access to prescription medicines. The PBM for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program is PMDC.
PCM	Prevention Case Management
PCP	Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia
PCRS	Partner Counseling and Referral Service
PEMS	Prevention Evaluation Monitoring System
PEP	Post Exposure Prophylaxis
PHENOTYPING	A test that measures some aspect of an organism’s functions, for example, the amount of a certain drug needed to inhibit the growth of HIV in a test-tube culture.
PHIPP	Prevention for HIV Infected Persons Project
PLANNING COUNCIL	A body appointed or established in an EMA which plans the delivery of HIV care services in the EMA and establishes priorities for the use of Title I CARE Act funds.
PLWA	Person(s) Living with AIDS.
PLWH	Persons(s) Living with HIV
PMDC	Professional Management Development Corporation. A corporation contracted to manage the California AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).
POCA	Plan of Corrective Action
POPA	People of Positive AIDS. POPA is a coalition of members of the California HIV Planning Group.
PPC	Prevention Planning Committee
PPP	Public Private Partnership. A PPP is a contractual between the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and non-profit health care providers to support health care to indigent clients.
PREVALENCE	The total number of persons with a specific disease or condition at a given time.
PREVALENCE RATE	The proportion of a population living at a given time with a condition or disease (compared to the incidence rate, which refers to new cases).
PRIORITY SETTING	The process used by a planning council or consortium to establish numerical priorities among service categories, to ensure consistency with locally identified needs, and to address how best to meet each priority
PROPHYLAXIS	Treatment to prevent the onset of a particular disease (primary prophylaxis) or recurrence of symptoms in an existing infection that has been brought under control (secondary prophylaxis or maintenance therapy).
PROTEASE	An enzyme that triggers the breakdown of proteins. HIV’s protease enzyme breaks apart long strands of viral protein into the separate proteins constituting the viral core and the enzymes it contains. HIV protease acts as new virus particles are budding off a cell membrane.
PROTEASE INHIBITOR	A drug that binds to HIV protease and blocks it from working, thus preventing the production of new functional viral particles.
PVO	Private Voluntary Organization
PWA	Person With AIDS
PWH	Persons with HIV
PWP	Prevention with Positives
QA	Quality Assurance
QC	Quality Control
QI	Quality Improvement
RAC	Residential AIDS Center
RAS	Residential AIDS Shelter
RCFCI	Residential Care Facility for Chronically Ill. The Office of AIDS Programs and Policy (OAPP) maintains 7 RCFCI contracts.
RDL	RDL Enterprises. A corporation contracted for meeting and logistical planning for the California Office of AIDS.
RETROVIRUS	A type of virus that, when not infecting a cell, stores its genetic information on a single-stranded RNA molecule instead of the more usual double-stranded DNA. HIV is an example of a retrovirus. After a retrovirus penetrates a cell, it constructs a DNA version of its genes using a special enzyme, reverse transcriptease. This DNA then becomes part of the cell’s genetic material.
REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE	A uniquely viral enzyme that constructs DNA from an RNA template, which is an essential step in the life cycle of a retrovirus such as HIV. The RNA-based genes of HIV and other retroviruses must be converted to DNA if they are to integrate into the cellular genome.
RFA	Request for Application
RFP	(Request for Proposals): An open and competitive process for selecting providers of service (sometimes called RFA or Request for Application).
RNA	Ribonucleic Acid. A family of single-stranded molecules structurally similar to DNA. In HIV, RNA is the molecule that carries the genetic information in the virus. In the process of infection, the HIV genome must be converted to DNA to successfully infect a cell.
RTI	Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor. A drug that binds to HIV reverse transcriptase and blocks it from working, thus preventing the production of new functional viral particles.
RWCA	Ryan White CARE Act - See also CARE Act
SALVAGE THERAPY	A final therapy for people who are non-responsive to or cannot tolerate other available treatments for a particular condition.
SAMHSA	The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that administers state block grant funds for substance abuse and mental health services and directs service grants to community-based organizations serving individuals living with HIV/AIDS and substance abuse or mental health issues.
SAMS	(Self Assessment Modules): Self-assessment tools for planning councils and consortia.
SCSN	Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need. A written statement of need for the entire State developed through a process designed to collaboratively identify significant HIV issues and maximize CARE Act program coordination. The SCSN process is convened by the Title 11 grantee, with equal responsibility and input by all programs; representatives must include all CARE Act titles and Part F managers, providers, PLWH, and public health agency(s).
SDI	State Disability Insurance
SEQUENCE	The particular order of nucleotides in DNA, RNA or of amino acids in a protein. The sequence is a signature of identification.
SEROCONVERSION	Development of detectable antibodies to HIV in the blood as a result of infection. It normally takes several weeks to several months for antibodies to the virus to develop after HIV transmission. When antibodies to HIV appear in the blood, a person will test positive in the standard ELISA test for HIV.
SEROPREVALENCE	The number of persons in a population who test HIV-positive based on serology (blood serum) specimens. It is often presented as a percent of the total specimens tested or as a rate per 100,000 persons tested.
SEROPREVALENCE REPORT	A report that provides information about the percent or rate of people in specific testing groups and populations who have tested positive for HIV.
SHA	Sexual Health Assessment
SNF	Skilled Nursing Facility. SNF is a licensure category administered by the State of California.
SOC	Share of Cost. The payment required by individuals to receive Medi-Cal benefits. For very low-income individuals, the share of cost is zero.
SPA	Service Planning Area. Los Angeles County is divided into eight SPAs of roughly equal population.
SPNS	(Special Projects of National Significance) A health services demonstration, research, and evaluation program funded under Part F of the CARE Act.
SRO	Single Room Occupancy. Usually a kind of residence hotel, frequently used for temporary housing for very low-income individuals.
SSA	Staff Services Analyst
SSDI	Social Security Disability Insurance
STD	Sexually Transmitted Disease. Usually, STD refers to chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis. Less often, STD is used to include hepatitis B and/or HIV. Synonymous with VD, STI.
STI	Sexually Transmitted Infection
SURVEILLANCE	An ongoing systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and using data on specific health conditions and diseases (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance system for AIDS cases).
SURVEILLANCE REPORT	A report providing information on the number of reported cases of a disease such as AIDS, nationally and for specific sub-populations.
TANF	Temporary Aid for Needy Families. A State of California program for low-income families. Formerly AFDC.
TAR	Treatment Authorization Request. A TAR authorizes a treatment or therapy for Medi-Cal reimbursement.
TARGET POPULATION	A population to be reached through some action or intervention; may refer to groups within specific demographic or geographic characteristics.
TB	Tuberculosis
THE ADMINISTRATION	Technically refers to the White House and the executive branch of government. Also commonly used by AIDS advocates to refer to the OMB (Office of Management and Budget), the National Office of AIDS Policy, and (or) the Department of Health and Human Services.
TLC	Teens Linking Care
TRANSMISSION CATEGORY	A grouping of disease exposure and infection routes; in relation to HIV disease, exposure groupings include injection drug use, men who have sex with men, heterosexual contact, perinatal transmission etc.
UARP	University-wide AIDS Research Program. This is a program of the University of California, with research centers and projects at multiple sites.
UR	Utilization Review
URS	Uniform Reporting System. A system developed by HRSA to standardize data collected on CARE Act clients and services.
VIRAL LOAD	The amount of HIV RNA per unit of blood plasma. Indicates virus concentration and reproduction rate. HIV viral load is also used as a predictor of diseased progression. It can be measured by PCR or bDNA tests and is expressed in number of copies of or equivalents to the HIV RNA genome per milliliter of plasma.
VIRAL LOAD TEST	Diagnostic tools to help physicians predict HIV disease progression and evaluate the effectiveness of antiviral drugs used to treat patients with HIV infection.
VIREMIA	The presence of virus in blood or blood plasma. Plasma viremia is a quantitative measurement of HIV levels similar to viral load but is accomplished by seeing how much of a patient’s plasma is required to spark an HIV infection in a laboratory cell culture.
VNA	Visiting Nurses Association. An organization (including affiliates in many parts of California) that provides home health and attendant care.
WESTERN BLOT	A test for detecting the specific antibodies to HIV in a person’s blood. It is commonly used to verify positive ELISA tests. A Western Blot test is more reliable than the ELISA, but it is harder and more costly to perform. All positive HIV antibody tests should be confirmed with a Western Blot test.
WHO	World Health Organization, an entity within the United Nations, headquartered in Switzerland.
WSR	Women at Sexual Risk
ZIDOVUDINE	See AZT.