Do community planning groups (CPGs) influence HIV prevention policy? An analysis of California CPGs

Since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has required its 65 public health department grantees to develop and implement a collaborative planning process with their state and local communities as a condition of continued HIV prevention funding. The HIV prevention community planning process offers an unprecedented opportunity for important changes in HIV prevention policy and governmental systems change through local citizen action. We examined the perceptions and experiences of members of community planning groups (CPGs) with respect to systems change and policy making in HIV prevention and identified a series of factors that either promote or inhibit systems and policy change by CPGs. Although there is reportedly substantial support from public health departments for policy making by CPGs, no official guidance supports these activities. CPGs in California have made profound changes in government systems and these experiences position them for policy making in HIV prevention.