The New Orleans Regional AIDS Planning Council (NORAPC) is the public planning body that plans for the distribution of federal Ryan White Part A funds. NORAPC roles and responsibilities include:
1) Set up rules to help the planning council to operate smoothly and fairly (planning council operations including bylaws, open meetings, grievance procedures, and conflict of interest policies.)
2) Train in participants in public planning for HIV. Once trained, the main task for the planning council is to find out what services are needed and what populations need care (needs assessment).
3) Decide what services to fund in the area (set priorities) and then decide how much Ryan White Part A money should be used for each of these services (allocate resources).
4) Develop a plan on how to provide these services (comprehensive care plan or integrated plan).
5) Look at ways Ryan White Part A services work to fill gaps in care with other Ryan White programs (through the Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need) as well as other services like Medicaid (coordination).
6) Evaluate how efficiently the grantee selects providers and how well their contracts and reimbursements are monitored. This is called assessing the efficiency of the administrative mechanism.