Pennsylvania

Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
Harrisburg District Office
Uptown Plaza Office Building
2971-B North Seventh Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Toll Free: (800)442-6351
Direct: (717)787-5422
TTY: (866)830-7327

Employment Resources:

ActionAIDS
Mission statement: "ActionAIDS is a Philadelphia-based organization in partnership with people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, works to sustain and enhance quality of life. We provide a range of direct services and take an active and professional approach to leadership in service, education and advocacy. Staff, volunteers and the board of directors are committed to including and assisting people from our heterogeneous community and are responsive to the dynamic needs generated by the epidemic." Part of our services includes a work support program called the Positive Action Work Support Program.

AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania
The AIDS Law Project describes themselves as "a pioneering venture to protect the rights of those affected by the epidemic" of AIDS. They offer number of legal services and seminars. Included in these seminars have been such topics as "back to work" and "leaving your job".

Research:

These do not appear to be specific to Pennsylvania

Effective HIV Treatment and the Employment of HIV+ Adults
We consider the effect of HAART on three employment outcomes: (1) returning to work within six months of treatment, conditional on not working pretreatment; (2) remaining employed within six months of treatment, conditional on working pretreatment; (3) hours of work conditional on working at the second follow-up survey. We use a bivariate probit model to jointly model employment and treatment with HAART for the first two outcomes and the two-stage least squares method for hours of work. State policies regarding prescription drug coverage are used as instrumental variables for HAART to account for a key source of potential bias-the more severely ill tend to have the most difficulty working, but are also the most likely to be on HAART.

Responding to Employment Needs: Strategies for Supporting Individuals with HIV/AIDS
This article reports on a study investigating employmentrelated support to individuals with HIV/AIDS from the perspective of service providers. Surveys were completed by AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) administrators and counselors that examined the extent to which support around employment was provided, the type of work-related services delivered, and outreach practices offered to this population. Findings indicated that although employment is becoming an increasingly important concern to this population, service providers have a limited capacity to respond to such needs. Strategies are presented for social workers and other professionals to consider as they work to support individuals with HIV/AIDS with employment-related concerns.