Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation's Health - Category C: State Legislators and Legislative Staff Nationwide - The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) proposes to provide capacity-building assistance to state legislators and legislative staff nationwide under Category C for the funding opportunity, “Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services Through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health.” NCSL’s project will focus on the nation’s 7,386 state and territorial legislators and 30,000+ legislative staff to provide capacity-building assistance to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequities through more informed decision-making about the public health system. For nearly 50 years, NCSL has provided CBA to state legislators and legislative staff on various policy topics. The purpose of NCSL’s project is help state legislators and legislative staff nationwide make more informed decisions about strengthening public health systems by developing and implementing quality CBA services and resources and partnering with other national organizations to foster collaboration among respective members. Focusing on Policies and Programs and Partnership Development and Engagement, NCSL will implement a variety of CBA activities and work collaboratively with CDC and other partner organizations to accomplish the program’s goals. As identified in the CDC program logic model, NCSL’s project will achieve the following short-term outcomes to build the capacity of state legislatures nationwide: 1. Increased availability of and access to CBA services and products for NCSL members that address public health policy. 2. Increased awareness of promising practices and/or tools among NCSL members through CBA services and products. In addition to achieving these short-term outcomes, NCSL’s project proposes to reach the following intermediate outcomes as identified in the logic model: 1. Enhanced skill and ability of NCSL members to support decision-making toward public health process, policies and programs. 2. Increased awareness and understanding of public health policies, processes and programs among NCSL members. Achieving these outcomes will contribute to improved capacity and capability of NCSL members to address public health policy and ultimately, improved health outcomes and reduced health inequities.
