ABOUT STAP
Serving Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties
The Southern Tier AIDS Program (STAP) remains committed as a local responder to the HIV epidemic but we also do so much more…
- We employ over 90 people and have an annual budget of 6.5 million dollars.
- Southern Tier Care Coordination (STCC) is our Doing Business as Designation. STCC provides care to anyone who has Medicaid and chronic health conditions such as (diabetes, asthma, heart problems). Care Managers work with their clients to meet their medical, mental health, substance use and sup-portive service needs. Currently we serve over 500 clients.
- We operate FOUR Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP). Our newest Exchange being in Norwich, NY in Chenango County which is our newest brick and mortar location, we also have a mobile van unit that goes to Elmira and Cortland, and our Exchange programs in Ithaca and Johnson City. Our SEPs provide syringe access and comprehensive harm reduction services to individuals who currently inject substances. We have a physician available at the SEPs who can prescribe suboxone for those who wish to start their recovery process, treat injuries, administer testing, and facilitate other care for our participants.
- We have staff at each SEP location that assist program participants with entry to treatment.
- We were the first and continue to be one of the major providers of Naloxone kits in the community. Our Opioid Overdose Prevention Program has literally saved more than 2,300 lives.
HEP-C Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Referral Services
We provide testing and linkage to services for Hepatitis C both in our prevention services and state correctional facilities.
Our women’s prevention program provides risk assessment, testing, referral and navigations services to women. This allows women to know their status, get treatment, and access additional community support services.
We have the only LGBTQ youth center in the Southern Tier. We serve youth from 13-24. Last year Identity served over 800 unduplicated youth. The Identity Center is a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning teens. LGBTQ+ youth and their allies are invited to come and be themselves, receive support and education, and meet new individuals.
We operate a CHOW Pantry every Tuesday at 22 Riverside Drive in Binghamton and host a summer lunch program at our Identity youth center, 206 State Street.
Criminal Justice & Re-Entry Services
Our Criminal Justice Initiative staff goes into criminal justice facilities to work with individual prior to the release. They provide education, assist with setting up services and train them (if interested) in being peer educators.
Our Re-entry Program works with formerly incarcerated men and women as they return home to our community from NYS Correctional Facilities. We assist participants in meeting the challenges they face, with the ultimate goals of enhancing public safety, reducing recidivism, and rebuilding lives and community.
We administer a supportive housing program. Medicaid beneficiaries who are unstably housed and have utilized emergency or inpatient medical services multiple times in the last year can find short-term rental assistance and case management services. We also provide rental subsidies, as well as single-event financial assistance to qualifying clients living with HIV/AIDS and limited incomes.
Most of our services are available in all of the counties we serve however there are some unique county specific programming as well.
STAP operates the only NYSDOH waivered harm reduction services in seven of our eight counties. We have fixed site Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs) in Johnson City, Norwich, and Ithaca. We also have peers located in Broome, Chemung, Tompkins, and Cortland counties who provide these lifesaving services to individuals who cannot access the fixed sites due to travel distance or confidentiality con-cerns. We have a dedicated team that offers harm reduction services from a van in the more rural areas of our region in Cortland and Elmira.
Broome County
STAP operates the only lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth center in the Southern Tier. Our youth center, Identity, is for teens and young adults ages 13-24. Founded in 2008, we are a safe space for LGBTQ+ teens, but also welcome all youth regardless of their sexual identity, orientation, or gender identity. LGBTQ+ youth and their allies are invited to come and be themselves, receive support and education, and meet new people.
Our reentry coordinator works in the Broome County Jail offering New York State approved curricu-lum to help prepare individuals for successful reentry to the community following incarceration.
Tompkins County
STAP operates a Health Hub for People Who Use Drugs in our Ithaca office location. There are a relatively large number of individuals experiencing homelessness in this well-to-do community, in part because of the extraordinarily high cost of housing. This walk-in health service is easy to access downtown, and provides an option for individuals who are not engaged in traditional medical care or have been discharged from services at other local primary care clinics. The Health Hub provides services such as triage & assessment, abscess drainage and wound care, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) treatment, and Suboxone (buprenorphine) prescribing with a waiver physician.
Otsego County
In Otsego County, STCC serves Medicaid eligible beneficiaries with multiple chronic illnesses. Particularly, we take referrals for individuals who need more intensive community-based supportive care management services. We routinely take complex clients into this program that have been discharged by other Care Management Agencies (CMAs) in the region, and are always willing to serve the most vulnerable members of the community. Our services have expanded in Otsego County dramatically over the last two years, resulting in staff expansion and the recent purchase of a building in Oneonta.
Nearly 40 years later, STAP remains staunchly committed to assuring health systems are responsive to the needs of the LGBT community, youth, communities of color, people who inject drugs, substance users, formerly incarcerated people and people with chronic illnesses living in poverty. We administer free testing for HIV, Hepatitis C and sexually transmitted diseases.
STAP's Mission Statement
Our mission is to compassionately and competently meet the evolving needs of our communities by serving people affected by chronic illness and to improve public health through disease prevention, care coordination and advocacy.