Roles, Responsibilities & Expectations

Your Role as a Planning Council Member

As a Planning Council member, you are part of a community-driven process that helps shape HIV services across the San Antonio Transitional Grant Area (TGA).

Planning Council members bring different experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives to the table. Together, members use community input, data, and their own knowledge to help identify needs, improve services, and guide the use of Ryan White Part A resources.

Community and consumer participation is a central part of the Ryan White planning process. The federal Planning Council Primer describes Planning Council members as making a vital contribution by helping strengthen and improve the system of care for people living with HIV.

What Does the Planning Council Do?

The Planning Council has several important responsibilities. Members work together to:

Listen to the community and gather input about the needs and experiences of people living with HIV.
Identify needs and gaps in HIV care and support services.
Set service priorities based on community needs, available data, service utilization, and available resources.
Guide resource allocation by determining how Ryan White Part A funds should be distributed among service categories.
Support comprehensive planning for HIV care and services.
Coordinate services and planning with other HIV programs and community resources.
Review how well the system is working and identify opportunities for improvement.
Help develop service standards to promote consistent, quality services.

San Antonio's bylaws specifically require the Planning Council to obtain community input, develop the Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan, establish funding priorities, assess the administrative mechanism, participate in quality-management activities, and ensure broad community involvement

Your Responsibilities as a Member

Being a Planning Council member means being an active participant, not simply attending meetings.

Members are expected to:

Attend and participate.
Attend scheduled Planning Council meetings, participate in discussions, ask questions, and contribute to decision-making. San Antonio's bylaws currently require members to attend scheduled Planning Council meetings and dedicate a minimum of 10 hours per month to Planning Council activities.

Participate in committee work.
Much of the Planning Council's work happens through its committees. Committees review information, discuss issues, and develop recommendations that may be brought to the full Planning Council for action. The federal Primer notes that Planning Councils generally expect members to participate actively on a committee as well as attend full Council meetings.

Come prepared.

Review meeting agendas, minutes, reports, data, and other materials before meetings. You are not expected to know everything ask questions whenever something is unclear.

Use data and community input.
Decisions should be based on the needs of the entire community rather than individual interests. Members may review Needs Assessment findings, service utilization, demographics, costs, community feedback, and other information when making decisions.

Participate in Priority Setting & Resource Allocation (PSRA).
One of the Planning Council's most important responsibilities is determining which service categories are priorities and how available Part A resources should be allocated among those services. The Planning Council does not select individual agencies to receive contracts; the Recipient manages the grant and contracting process. The federal Primer distinguishes these roles: the Recipient manages the grant while the Planning Council makes decisions about service priorities and resource allocation

Represent the Whole Community

Members may bring personal experience, professional knowledge, or the perspective of a particular community or organization to the Planning Council.

That experience is valuable—but when making decisions, members should consider:

What best meets the needs of people living with HIV across our community?

The Planning Council is intentionally designed to include diverse community voices. San Antonio's bylaws require the Council's membership to reflect the community and require at least one-third of membership to be non-aligned people living with HIV who are eligible for Ryan White services.

Member Expectations

Attendance Matters

Consistent participation is important because Planning Council decisions depend on having members present and engaged.

Under the current San Antonio bylaws:

Members are required to attend scheduled Planning Council meetings.
Members are expected to dedicate at least 10 hours per month to Planning Council activities.
Members may have no more than two absences during any six-month period.
If you cannot attend a Planning Council or committee meeting, you are responsible for providing an explanation to the Planning Council Liaison.
When available, teleconference participation can count toward attendance and quorum when the member participates for the duration of the meeting.

I would put this particular section in a pale-yellow “Important” box on the website because these are actual membership requirements.

Training & Orientation

Members need training to participate effectively in the Ryan White planning process.

New San Antonio Planning Council members are required to complete the New Member Orientation within three months of appointment.

The federal Planning Council Primer also emphasizes orientation for new members and ongoing training for all members so they understand the legislation, their responsibilities, and the respective roles of the Planning Council and Recipient.

Confidentiality & Respect

Planning Council members may hear personal experiences and sensitive information through meetings, community discussions, or Planning Council activities.

Members are expected to:

Respect the privacy of others.
Protect confidential information.
Never disclose another person's HIV status or personal information without permission.
Treat fellow members, community participants, staff, and guests with respect.
Follow the Planning Council's Code of Conduct.

Conflicts of Interest

Members must make decisions based on community and client needs—not personal, professional, organizational, or financial interests.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily mean someone cannot serve on the Planning Council. It does mean conflicts must be disclosed and handled according to Planning Council policy.

The federal Primer specifically emphasizes that priority-setting and funding decisions must not be influenced by the financial interests of service providers or the personal or professional interests of Planning Council members.

What Good Participation Looks Like

You don't need to be an HIV policy expert to be an effective Planning Council member.

A strong Planning Council member:

Shows up.
Attend meetings and participate consistently.

Comes prepared.
Review the information provided before meetings.

Asks questions.
If something isn't clear, speak up. Someone else may have the same question.

Listens to different perspectives.
Every member brings different knowledge and lived experience.

Uses the information available.
Consider community input, Needs Assessment findings, service data, and other evidence.

Speaks up.
Your perspective matters, particularly when you can help the Council understand how a decision may affect people living with HIV.

Thinks community-wide.
Focus on what will best serve people living with HIV throughout the San Antonio TGA.

San Antonio HIV Planning Council

Area HIV Health Services Planning Council

Your trusted resource for HIV Planning and Services

HRSA Disclaimer This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-87) via grant H89HA00007. PHOTOGRAPH DISCLAIMER The people in the photos on this web site are models and used for illustrative purposes only unless otherwise noted – no representation regarding HIV status is made and should not be inferred.

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