Community Planning 
What is HIV Prevention Community Planning?
HIV prevention community planning is a collaborative process. Nebraska Health & Human Services System works in partnership with community planning groups to design local prevention plans. These plans best represent the needs of the various communities at risk for, or infected with, HIV.Goals of Community Planning:
- Reduce HIV transmission
- Improve the effectiveness of HIV prevention programs through:
(1) participation by individuals infected with and affected by HIV, and
(2) application of sound scientific methods that will halt the spread of HIV.The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began the HIV prevention community planning process in 1994. This was done in response to the increasing numbers of HIV infections nationally. Money had been awarded to states for a number of years to implement prevention efforts. However, the focus had primarily been limited to information dissemination, provision of risk reduction, and HIV testing services. The types of prevention used were determined at the state level and by each state individually.
This process was begun to improve the effectiveness of state, local and territorial health departments' HIV prevention programs. The goal is to strengthen the scientific basis, community relevance, and population - or risk-based - focus of prevention interventions. This community-based and participatory action helps public health programs to clearly identify the risk characteristics of those persons who are most at risk for HIV infection or who are currently infected and pose a threat to others through transmission and to determine the type of prevention activities to implement.
The Nebraska HIV Care & Prevention Consortium (NHCPC) was established as of March 1, 2000, to meet the federal requirements of the cooperative agreements awarded to Nebraska by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
