National Voluntary Accreditation for Public Health Departments

CDC's Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support (OSTLTS) co-funds Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation activities with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. CDC also funds other key national partners (the American Public Health Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Local Boards of Health, National Network of Public Health Institutes, and Public Health Foundation) to prepare health departments for accreditation by providing technical assistance, quality and performance improvement tools and training, and communications about accreditation. Further, CDC OSTLTS funding through the National Public Health Improvement Initiative provides support for advancing accreditation readiness and quality improvement and performance management efforts.

In-Kind Support

CDC provides in-kind staff time and technical expertise to assist with the development of accreditation by contributing to PHAB work groups and committees and by soliciting subject matter expertise from across CDC. In addition, CDC co-supports the Accreditation Coalition, a collaborative of the key national organizations supporting accreditation.

Incentives, Technical Assistance and Other Support

Incentives for participation in voluntary accreditation are critical. CDC is uniquely positioned to play a strong role in establishing financial incentives and incentives related to grants administration (i.e., streamlined reporting for accredited agencies) which have been rated of high interest. CDC can also play a major role in providing technical assistance for meeting standards and measures and improving agency and program performance.