Health departments across the nation are pursing accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), and many of them are using the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) in a key element of the process: creation of a workforce development plan.

Within Domain 8 of its Standards and Measures, PHAB requires a health department-specific workforce development plan that includes an assessment of staff competencies against an adopted set of core competencies. At least 50 health departments have chosen to use the Core Competencies developed by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council on Linkages) as their adopted competency set. The Core Competencies are a consensus set of foundational skills for the broad practice of public health and are specifically mentioned in the Standards and Measures as an example.

Considering how you might integrate the Core Competencies into your workforce development plan? More than 20 health departments have volunteered to share the workforce development plans they have created using the Core Competencies. View these examples through the Council on Linkages’ collection of competency-based workforce development plans for ideas to help you get started, or explore the Public Health Foundation’s onsite assistance for developing a workforce development plan.

Workforce development plans are not the only ways the Core Competencies support performance improvement within health departments. The Core Competencies are integrated into job descriptions, provide the foundation for discipline-specific competency sets, and are used to develop competency-based training. Work related to integrating the Core Competencies into practice also supports achievement of Healthy People 2020 objectives. State and local health departments have reported using the Core Competencies to assess staff training needs, develop training plans, prepare job descriptions, and conduct performance evaluations, among other activities. Learn more about how the Core Competencies are being used for improving performance within public health practice and achieving accreditation, and share your own experiences and ideas in the Comments section below!