How Services are Funded

Under the guidance of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services, grants are awarded to eligible metropolitan areas (EMAs) around the nation. The Baltimore EMA is made up of Baltimore City and its six suburban counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard and Queen Anne’s).

Central to the Ryan White Program is the idea of local communities deciding for themselves how to best use federal dollars. In the Baltimore EMA, many entities are involved in carrying out the activities based on that idea, including:

• The chief elected official (CEO) of the EMA, who is the mayor.
• The grantee, which is the Baltimore City Health Department.
• The fiscal agent, which is Baltimore City Health Department.
• The support office, which is Population Health and Disease Prevention.

To meet its objective of setting service priorities and allocating funds to service categories, the planning council draws on a variety of existing data sources. In addition, it commissions new assessments to determine what are the greatest areas of need in the Baltimore EMA.

The culmination of the assessment and planning activities the council engages in throughout the year is a two-day planning conference at which service priorities are set and funding allocations are voted on.