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. These resources provide a tremendous opportunity for states to1) 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.
State health departments can take many steps to seize this opportunity:
- Review PHF’s Sample Service Packages to get started planning a comprehensive approach that will benefit multiple local health departments and tribes at once
- Ask local and tribal health departments what types of technical assistance and training will help them improve infrastructure, build capacity, and achieve accreditation; then support the provision of technical assistance and training using PHHS Block Grant funds to assist local health departments and tribes throughout the state in a coordinated fashion
- Make direct awards to local health departments and tribes, and communicate with them about how to request these funds (e.g., write proposals that include SMART objectives)
- Identify where building local and tribal PM, QI, and WD capacity will strengthen the effectiveness of programmatic and administrative areas central to the state health department’s PHHS Block Grant objectives
- Support with PHHS Block Grant funds statewide data sources that will benefit local health assessments and improvement plans
- Support with PHHS Block Grant funds the state’s TRAIN subscription to facilitate remote training, workforce development planning, and tracking of training across the state
- Consider the value of coordinating the PHHS Block Grant program from a part of the health department that impacts all programmatic areas (e.g., Office of Performance Improvement, Office of Local and Community Support)
Please contact Margie Beaudry ([email protected] 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 PHHS Block Grant work plan.