Optimizing Linkage, Engagement, and Retention in HIV Care for Young People of Color

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Optimizing Linkage, Engagement, and Retention in HIV Care for Adolescents and Young Adults of Color This webinar will provide an in-depth look at Boston’s SMILE in Caring for Youth program, an NIH-funded program that works with young people (ages 12-24) living with HIV, their providers, and their families/caregivers to facilitate practical and meaningful linkage to, engagement in, and maintenance of care. Recognizing the disproportionate impact that HIV has on youth of color, SMILE also works with the Connect to Protect (C2P) Boston coalition to address barriers through community mobilization and structural change. Project Manager of SMILE, Lawrence Vinson ,and a Nurse Practitioner at the Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center, Molly McHenry, will present their experiences engaging Boston youth into HIV care, and will describe how racial justice focused structural change initiatives can help this optimize this work. They will also describe how their program builds partnerships with clinicians and case managers at health centers and other community based organizations to help youth navigate the HIV Continuum of Care.