Members Present:Rita Castro (Chair), Sissy Riffin, Janet Cates, Leatrice Bines, Tony Matcek, Bobby Holtman

BVCOG Staff Present: Christopher Hamilton, Crystal Crowell

The meeting came to order at 1:35 p.m.

A proposition was posed to the committee that since the Austin Title I council just finished their needs assessment and included the five other counties (assessment covered entire HSDA) the committee could use the same survey and thus use the data from Austin, saving time and expense for the needs assessment for the Central Texas Planning Area.

The committee then discussed how many people to survey in each of the areas. Mr. Hamilton offered numbers based on total PLWHA in order to reach statistical significance. The committee suggested using the current client count in an HSDA rather than total PLWHA. It was then suggested that the committee look at the budget and what can be afforded in terms of incentives for participation as well as other expenses in conducting the assessment before deciding how many to survey in each area.

Ms. Crowell suggested that the bulk of work and expense be completed in this grant year (ending March 31, 2006) in order to maximize use of available funds.

Ms Castro noted that the entire process might take approximately four months to complete. If starting in January, the bulk of expense and work would be completed within the grant year.

The committee agreed to use the survey used by Austin Title I so their data may be used. They used the most recent version of the SCSN developed assessment tool. Mr. Hamilton will provide to the committee a proposed budget for incentives at various levels to see how many people can be surveyed. The committee agreed on January as a goal for starting the assessment process.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:06 p.m.