Parental loss due to HIV: caring for children as a community issue--the Rochester, New York experience

The number of children in the United States who will lose a parent to AIDS is increasing. Permanency planning to help families affected by AIDS includes case management, mental health, medical care, child welfare, and legal services. These services are provided by a number of different professions, and have largely been reactive and noncoordinated. This article presents the efforts of one community in a midsize city to develop and implement a multidisciplinary coordinated plan for providing services to children affected by the illness or death of a parent from HIV/AIDS.