With funding support from Johnson & Johnson Foundation, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and ASHA for Education-New Jersey Chapter, SAATHII is implementing APFCC which is a family-centered comprehensive care and support program designed to support orphans and vulnerable children, as well as their caretakers, affected by HIV. The goal of the APFCC program is to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and their families in Andhra Pradesh through a comprehensive and sustainable approach that ensures the proper growth and development of children in a safe environment, reduces HIV related morbidity and mortality among parents and children, and improves the economic productivity among families members and care givers supporting children affected by HIV. The program is being expanded to Manipur, Nagaland, West Bengal and Orissa states this year with Technical Assistance, Capacity Building and Operational Research.

The core components of the programs are:

• Provision of Care, Support and Treatment Services to families with children affected by HIV. These services include psychosocial, medical, nutritional, educational and recreational support, as well as trainings and economic assistance for caregivers. Referrals and linkages are provided for any services not directly available through APFCC.

• Child Sponsorship Program to provide educational scholarships for HIV affected children, and to strengthening the infrastructure and capacity of child care institutions which provide quality and non-stigmatizing care children.

• Advocacy to create an enabling social and policy environment for providing support to children affected by HIV, and to reduce stigma and discrimination in the schools, at health care facilities and in families and communities.

• Resource Mobilization from local (district administration, community and private sector) and international sources to increase internal resources and to work towards making the program sustainable.

• Capacity Building of Service Providers through technical trainings, ongoing technical assistance, on-site mentorship, and facilitation of information sharing and cross learning between NGO partners. This component includes the OVC e-support center, which will act as on online resource for APFCC partners and their allies.

Partners and Coverage: As of March 2008, the program currently serves 3,000 family members spread across 5 high HIV prevalence districts in the state of Andhra Pradesh through partnership with nine grass-root organisations. The covered districts are Prakasham, Nellore, East Godhavari, West Godhavari and Hyderabad (includes part of Rangareddy). Following are the APFCC partners and their locations:

• Planned Action Service Committee for Achievement (PASCA), Ongole, Prakasham District
• Vianny Home, Nellore District
  
• Community Health Awareness & Natural Green Environment Society (CHANGES), Kakinada, East Godhavari District
  
• Bhavani Educational Society (BES), Kavali, Nellore District
  
• Coastal Network of Positive People (CNP+), Rajahmundary, East Godhavari District
  
• Jyothi Educational Society (JES), Tadepalligudem, West Godhavari District
  
• Chaitanya Jyothi Welfare Soceity (CJWS), Nellore District
  
• Network of Positive People (NHP+), Hyderabad
• Sri Ravi Teja Educational and Infected Children and Welfare Society (SRTE&ICWS), Elluru, West

APFCC Program Team

• Dr A Sathish Kumar, Program Director, APFCCP
• K Kaveesher Krishnan, Senior Program Manager - APFCCP
• K Chandra Reddy, Program Officer - APFCCP
• Honey Praveen, Program Officer - APFCCP
• S Anuradha, Nutritionsit (Consultant) - APFCCP
• O.Jogi Reddy, Associate Finance Manager
• B.Nilavathi, Office Assistant