The University of California at San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies serves as the Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center (ETAC) for the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) initiative, Culturally Appropriate Interventions of Outreach, Access and Retention among Latino Populations. As the SPNS program supports many initiatives, we refer to this one as the Latino SPNS Initiative and to its ETAC as the Latino ETAC.

The Latino ETAC provides leadership and support to demonstration sites implementing innovative interventions to enhance HIV testing and diagnosis among out-of-care Latinos, and to link and retain these populations in high quality HIV care. Technical assistance focuses on the development of innovative models for providing HIV and support services; methodological (both quantitative and qualitative) research design and evaluation consultation and support; state-of-the-art data collection and management system design; ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality and, support for dissemination of study outcomes through a variety of channels. The multisite evaluation will employ mixed methods to: 1) evaluate multi-site patient outcome data using federally-approved indicators to understand intervention effectiveness; 2) conduct key informant interviews to characterize barriers and facilitators to testing and care before and after intervention implementation; and (3) collect cost data to determine the kinds of interventions that are most cost-effective. The ETAC will synthesize and disseminate findings from demonstration sites so that they have optimum impact on the research, practices, and policies related to intervention strategies for out-of-care and sub-optimally engaged-in-care Latinos living with HIV, to better inform implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.