A citizens' AIDS Task Force: overcoming obstacles

This article analyzes the experience of a state-wide Task Force on AIDS using grassroots techniques to construct policy responsive to the needs of people living with HIV. The four primary obstacles to effective policy making were the need (1) to include disenfranchised groups; (2) to avoid the domination of governmental bureaucracy so that community-based organizations could offer solutions, as well as services; (3) to overcome resistance to anonymous testing; and (4) to reach "hard to reach" populations. Task Force members' perspectives colored what were deemed appropriate policies. Members tended to polarize into two groups: those community-based groups and individuals who focused on the needs of people with HIV on one side, and on the other side, more institutional players who wanted to identify and isolate "HIV carriers." The article closes by analyzing the resulting HIV Omnibus Bill. Those who focused on the needs of people with HIV seized the opportunity to draft and successfully pass an omnibus bill through the Arizona Legislature. This success demonstrates that highly organized communities can affect policy making, even to the extent that it offsets more institutionalized power.