A Bridge to Adherence: Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy for People with HIV Released from Prison | RFA PS 24 042

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA PS 24 042

A Bridge to Adherence: Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy for People with HIV Released from Prison (RFA PS 24 042) is a CDC discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement focused on improving HIV treatment continuity for people leaving prison. The program is built around a persistent public health gap: each year, roughly 6,500 people with HIV are released from prison facilities and many return to the community without strong connections to ongoing HIV care. This transition period is widely recognized as a high-risk moment for treatment interruptions, lapses in medical follow-up, and loss of viral suppression, and the NOFO emphasizes that there are still too few proven, scalable programs demonstrating long-term retention in care and sustained viral suppression after release.

The central strategy encouraged by the NOFO is the use of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LAI-ART) initiated before release and continued at or around the time of release. The rationale is practical: when someone is navigating reentry challenges like housing instability, transportation barriers, changing insurance coverage, and competing priorities such as employment or supervision requirements, daily oral adherence can be difficult even for highly motivated patients. LAI-ART may reduce the burden of daily pill-taking and may support steadier medication coverage through scheduled injections, which in turn could improve adherence, strengthen retention in HIV care, and help maintain viral load suppression during the reentry period.

The primary purpose of the award is to support the development and real-world implementation of LAI-ART programs embedded in prison settings, with an explicit emphasis on models that are effective, sustainable, and replicable. In other words, the CDC is not only looking for short-term pilots, but for approaches that can plausibly be maintained in routine operations and copied by other prison systems and partners. Alongside service delivery, the NOFO also prioritizes learning how feasible and acceptable LAI-ART is for people with HIV who are incarcerated and approaching release, as well as for the institutions and clinical partners responsible for delivering care. That feasibility and acceptability focus signals that grantees are expected to document what works and what does not, including operational barriers and patient experience, so that future programs can be implemented more smoothly.

A notable feature of this opportunity is its expectation of applied research components that directly inform practice. The NOFO anticipates both qualitative and quantitative work, meaning projects are expected to pair outcome tracking with on-the-ground learning. Quantitative elements would typically include measures tied to the grant goals such as linkage to community HIV care, retention in care over time, continuity of ART, and viral suppression after release. Qualitative elements would typically explore patient perspectives, stigma or privacy concerns, trust and consent, preferences around injections versus pills, and practical issues like scheduling injections around release dates, transfers, or unpredictable discharge timelines. The intent is that these combined methods will generate actionable evidence that strengthens adherence to ART for this specific population.

Administratively, this is a CDC-funded cooperative agreement, which generally implies substantial involvement by the agency beyond a standard grant, often including collaboration on project direction, performance monitoring, and shared learning across awardees. The opportunity is listed under CFDA 93.084 and is open to a broad range of eligible applicants, including state, county, and city governments; tribal governments and tribal organizations; public housing authorities; public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; and for-profit organizations other than small businesses, among others. The NOFO anticipated making a small number of awards (expected awards: 2) with an award ceiling of $375,000. The original closing date was 2024-03-01, and the funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-01.

Overall, the opportunity is aimed at bridging a well-documented break in HIV care that occurs when people transition from incarceration to the community. By supporting LAI-ART programming that begins in prison and connects to community care after release, and by requiring practical, implementation-oriented evaluation, the CDC is seeking models that improve health outcomes for individuals while also generating guidance that other jurisdictions can adopt to reduce post-release treatment disruptions and sustain viral suppression.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "A Bridge to Adherence: Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy for People with HIV Released from Prison" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.084.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $375,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA PS 24 042

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