Though traditionally focused on chronic disease prevention, the Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant can be used to build infrastructure and workforce capacity throughout your jurisdiction and across programmatic areas.
States have broad discretion about how to use PHHS Block Grant funds. The doubling of resources in this program is a tremendous opportunity to 1) increase the number of local health departments and tribes that meet accreditation requirements; 2) build performance management (PM), quality improvement (QI), and workforce development (WD) into all initiatives addressing Healthy People 2020 objectives; and 3) create lasting capacity for improving public health outcomes.
About 40% of PHHS Block Grant resources support local health department and tribal initiatives to address Healthy People 2020 objectives. There are two main ways to influence the form and amount of this support and take advantage of a doubling of the Block Grant funds awarded to states this year; both require working and communicating with the state health department where you reside:
- Ask the state health department for funds to accomplish capacity-building objectives that support infrastructure and accreditation (e.g., technical assistance to build capacity in PM, QI, and WD). Each state that distributes funds directly to local health departments and tribes handles it differently. They may require proposals or other formal requests. Whatever the funding mechanism, to make a strong case to receive funds, requests should include SMART objectives, a rationale for how the work supports Healthy People 2020 goals, and descriptions of deliverables and performance measures. Your state PHHS Block Grant coordinator may be able to provide guidance on how to make this request within your state.
- Ask the state health department for technical assistance or other services to help you accomplish capacity-building objectives that support infrastructure and accreditation. Technical Assistance that will touch multiple local health departments and/or tribes regionally or all at once can be cost-effective for the state. The more the state health official and PHHS Block Grant coordinator hear how local health departments and tribes will benefit from technical assistance in specific areas (e.g., PM, QI, and WD), the more likely they are to allocate funds to meet those needs. This is true whether or not the state has a centralized health department structure.
- Talk to other local health departments and tribes to get their ideas for how to approach the state health department with a unified request
- Ask your state’s association of county and city health officials to advocate for PHHS Block Grant funds being used to support capacity-building activities for local health departments
- Ask regional tribal councils to advocate on behalf of tribes
- Seek the state health department’s advice on how best to receive capacity-building and infrastructure support (e.g., QI technical assistance, workforce training) through the PHHS Block Grant; every state handles this differently
- Share this page and PHF’s Sample Service Packages with the state health official, deputies, the PHHS Block Grant coordinator, and the state’s performance improvement and/or accreditation coordinator
Please contact Margie Beaudry (mbeaudry@phf.org or 202-218-4415) if you would like to discuss the types of QI, PM, and WD technical assistance and training you may wish to include in your request for Block Grant funds or assistance through the state health department.