Examining Retention in HIV Care and HIV Suppression on Housing Services Intake at a Washington, DC Community Based Organization

In Washington, DC, 2% of residents are living with HIV, with 15.3% of them experiencing homelessness. Additionally, over half of DC-area renters are paying over 30% of their income for housing. The primary objective of this study was to describe HIV outcomes at initial intake at Housing Counseling Services (HCS). This retrospective study included adults with HIV completing HCS intake between 2015 and 2018 and linked HCS data with DC Department of Health (DOH) HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration (HAHSTA) surveillance data. Proportions of individuals with retention in care (RIC) and viral suppression (VS) were compared across client subgroups using chi-square or rank sum tests. The sample of 734 participants was mostly male (67%), Non-Hispanic Black (89%), had MSM as the HIV transmission risk factor (44%) and had rental housing (60%). Most participants (634/734, 86%) were RIC at HCS intake. A majority of participants (477/621 or 77%) had VS at intake. Older age was associated with VS (p = 0.0007). Homeless individuals (with intake from the street) were less likely to be VS (4.8% vs. 11.1%, p < 0.0045). Our results suggest that PWH who have unstable housing or who are homeless may need additional support services for maintaining RIC and VS, as the proportion meeting those benchmarks was not at goal when they sought services at HCS.