Building Capacity of the Public Health System to Improve Population Health through National, Non-Profit Organizations- financed in part by Prevention and Public Health Funds (PPHF)

Objectives: This program will cover projects under two funding initiatives: 1) specific capacity building activities (CBA) under PPHF; and 2) CBA activities under an umbrella cooperative agreement for unique target populations. Applicant organizations will have the opportunity to compete for PPHF supported projects as well as high priority CDC projects. This program will assist state, tribal, local and U.S. territorial health departments, and other components of the public health system by making available to them capacity building assistance (including technical consultation, skills building/training, information, and technology transfer assistance) that will result in: systems and organizational efficiencies; a capable and qualified workforce; state-of-the-art information technology systems and integrated and standardized community and population data; improved planning, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based public health policies, laws, programs and services; results driven local and national public and private partnerships; and increased availability and accessibility of public health resources, such as publications, educational materials, syndicated website material, training curricula, assessments and evaluation tools, and other products for improvement of public health agencies and other agencies in the public health system. The overall goal of capacity building assistance is to ensure improvements in the public health infrastructure so that it is prepared for responding to both acute and chronic threats relating to the Nation’s health such as emerging infections, disparities in health status, and increases in chronic disease and injury rates. Capacity building assistance will focus on the provision of technical consultation, skills building/training, and information and technology transfer assistance to ensure successful planning, implementation, coordination and evaluation of the key areas for public health infrastructure investments. CBA may also be provided for CDC-funded projects which may include limited CBA to international public health agencies where there is a benefit to US public health efforts or to the US public health system. Investing in CBA is expected to help public health agencies and other public health components fulfill their mission of protecting and promoting health in their communities and effectively performing essential public health services. Some of the capacity building needs are in the following areas: • Improving the public health workforce (e.g., e-learning, other training, and fellowship programs); vital statistics systems (electronic birth and death registration); food and water borne disease identification and prevention, prevention of hospital acquired infections, electronic health record/IT systems, communications systems and processes (e.g. information syndication and social media capacity), and laboratory and epidemiologic capacity. • Developing information systems to support adoption, implementation, enforcement, and/or evaluation of public health legislation, codes, rules, regulations, ordinances, and other policies. • Improving public health system development/redevelopment by building or re-engineering infrastructure to improve networking, coordination, standardization, and centralization of public health services to effectively and efficiently address priority health indicators. • Implementing best health care practices and conducting impact evaluation. • Improving information and data system capacity through policy/communication for standardized data collection and analysis systems, information management technology, information dissemination, and meaningful data use and translation • Improving organizational capacity to effectively and efficiently use resources such as fiscal agents, and intermediaries, and • Improving technical and program guidance and evaluation of preventive services to expand coverage for community and clinical preventive services. This includes te