HIV / AIDS

Atkins House HIV/AIDS Education/Prevention program has been operating since 2001 and includes education groups at Atkins House and at York County Prison as well as individual risk assessments and risk reduction counseling at both locations.

All Atkins House HIV/AIDS programs are open to any woman offender or ex-offender in York County. Services are free. Please contact us for more information or to make an appointment.

CLEAR: Choosing Life: Empowerment, Action, Results!

Is an evidence-based HIV prevention and health promotion intervention for people 16 years or older, living with HIV or at high risk for HIV infection. CLEAR is a client centered program delivered one-on –one using cognitive behavioral techniques to change behavior. It provides clients with the necessary skills to live their best life and to be able to make healthy choices.

Street Smart

Street Smart is one of the programs offered to the women at Atkins House. It is a CDC approved DEBI Structured Intervention, which is a part of the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions project. The DEBI project provides agencies with evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Atkins House currently offers two DEBIs to our clients: Street Smart and CLEAR. While CLEAR is a one-on-one program offered to the residents here as well as to women incarcerated at York County Prison, Street Smart is a group intervention consisting of weekly sessions focusing on different aspects of reducing HIV risk, including safer sexual behaviors and substance use.

Street Smart’s curriculum runs 10 weeks, with groups meeting once a week for 2 hours. It provides the women with important risk-reduction information, as well as self-esteem enhancement and assertive communication practice to better prepare them to deal with outside pressures. The women come out of the program with the most accurate and relevant information about risk and how to protect themselves and equipped with all of the tools and resources necessary to stay safe.