THE RESOURCE GROUP

The mission of The Houston Regional HIV/AIDS Resource Group is to maximize all possible medical, psychosocial and educational resources to help persons affected by or at risk of HIV/AIDS nationally with primary focus in east and southeast Texas.

The Resource Group (TRG) was founded as a non profit agency in 1993 to serve as the community based administrative agency for collaborative HIV/AIDS care services funding in Houston and East Texas. The Resource Group is currently the grantee or administrative agency for a number of grants under the Ryan White Act:
• TRG serves as the local administrative agency for six Texas Department of State Health Service (DSHS) Health Service Delivery Areas (HSDAs), supporting a continuum of health and social services in 51 counties of East Texas. Services are provided in cities ranging from Texarkana on the Texas/Arkansas border to Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. The Resource Group administers not only Ryan White Part B funds through its relationship with DSHS but also DSHS State HIV Services and DSHS HOPWA funds. TRG performs various task including, but not limited to: community planning, competitive service bidding, contract negotiation, service implementation and monitoring, technical assistance, data collect, quality management, and clinical review
• TRG is a current grantee under Part C Early Intervention Services funding to coordinate HIV primary care services and support services for three HSDAs in east Texas. In the past years, the Resource Group and its network of providers has offered needed, comprehensive HIV primary care, medical case management, transportation, and specialty care to clients within a 29-county area.
• Finally, TRG is a current grantee under Part D Coordinated Services and Access to Research for Women, Infant, Children and Youth funding. Since 1994, TRG has coordinated a comprehensive network of five funded service partners that supports needed comprehensive HIV primary care, health case management, transportation, child care and specialty care services to approximately 1500 consumers each year.
Under these grants, the Resource Group currently provides funding to approximately 15 agencies/ institutions in Southeast Texas that provide over 20 different services to people and families living with or at risk for HIV infection. Funded services include, but are not limited to: primary medical care, housing, food pantry, care management, legal assistance, dental care, eye care, medication assistance, insurance premium assistance, professional counseling, and information and referral.

TRG is overseen by a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has delegated the daily management of TRG to the Executive Director. The Executive Director supervises three types of work within the organization: Finance, Planning, and Program.

The Finance Department, which consists of two positions (the Finance Director and the Accountant), has the responsibility to manage the overall fiscal aspects of the organization. The Finance Director has a Certified Public Accountant designation and experience with fiscal and accounting matters to ensure fiscal compliance with OMB circulars and grant provisions. The Accountants have educational and experience qualifications to process payroll, accounts payable, and assist the Finance Director as needed. The Finance Department works closely with other departments of the organization to ensure the overall mission of the organization is achieved via cost effective means.

The Planning Department is responsible for providing programmatic support and technical assistance to DSHS, the Part B Grantee, by performing community planning activities which include, but are not limited to: annual needs assessment activities, annual priority setting of fund-able service, and annual allocations of funds to services in response to community and provider feedback. Information provided to DSHS through these processes help guide in organizing and maintaining an HIV service delivery system that meets the needs of the East Texas Community. Additionally, the Planner ensures the development and implementation of a comprehensive HIV service delivery plan among TRG's regional subcontractors and collaborators. The Planner strives to achieve this goal by working to identify the needs and barriers to care among community members, and thus utilizing this information to assist in planning future services for communities served by Ryan White funds.

The Programmatic Department is directly involved in the management and oversight of all services funded at TRG. The Program Development Director manages this department. The following activities are part of the Programmatic Department: Clinical, Consumer Involvement, Data, Quality Management, and Administrative Support. The Clinical Compliance Evaluator is responsible for the coordination of the clinical care, monitoring of clinical providers including primary care, dental care, home health care, hospice, and medical case management services. The Clinical Compliance Evaluator is a Registered Nurse with experience in both delivery of care and program administration. The Consumer Relations Coordinator is responsible for increasing consumer involvement with the planning and delivery of services by TRG and its subcontractors. She is a self-disclosed HIV-positive Black mother with extensive training in leadership and facilitation. As such, she facilitates the project-wide Consumer Advisory Board (PCAB) meeting and assists in the development of the agency-specific CABs. The Client-Level Data (CLD) Analyst oversees the various data collection systems required by the various funders of the services provided by TRG. Additionally, the CLD Analyst creates any additional data collections necessary to gather required data. The Quality Compliance Coordinator oversees the quality management program at TRG and its subcontractors including, but not limited to, the evaluation of quality of services, the evaluation of consumer satisfaction, and the implementation of service improvements as a result of evaluation activities. Finally, the Administrative Assistant provides administrative and clerical support to all departments and divisions of TRG.