Strengthening the Nation’s Public Health System through a National Voluntary Accreditation Program for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Health Departments

This project will support the operations and continuous improvement of a national accreditation program for state, tribal, local and territorial public health departments. This program will result in increased visibility for accreditation, a stronger public health accreditation program, increased demonstration of accountability of public health programs to decision makers and to the public, increased adoption of evidence based practices, increased use of quality improvement, improved capacity for state, tribal, local and territorial health departments to meet nationally established accreditation standards, and increased recognition of public health roles and value by leaders and the public.

Specific objectives may/will include but are not limited to:
1. Support communications and education regarding the accreditation program.
2. Establish a process of continuous improvement of the accreditation standards, tools, and processes to ensure a relevant, current and smoothly functioning program (all elements of the current program can be found at www.phaboard.org).
3. Strengthen strategic partnerships to support accreditation.
4. Strengthen the evidence base for accreditation.

1. Eligible Applicants: Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit with 501(c)3 IRS status.

2. Special Eligibility Requirements: The only eligible applicant for this award is the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a 501(c)3 independent accrediting body that administers the national voluntary public health department accreditation program.

3. Justification for Less than Maximum Competition: The nature of the activities under this award are best employed by focusing on the entity to which this cooperative agreement is limited, per memorandum for approval for single-eligibility competition, which was approved and dated December 20, 2012.

PHAB was found to be uniquely qualified, as it is the organization that has been established as the national accrediting body for state, tribal, local and territorial health departments. PHAB was determined to have the experience and program infrastructure, which includes field-driven and tested standards, measures and accreditation assessment process. PHAB is also widely accepted as the national accrediting body for state, local tribal and territorial health departments by the constituency organizations for these agencies and as evidenced by the visible mention of PHAB within national policy documents (e.g., Institute of Medicine reports, Healthy People 2020).

State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Public Health Departments via a National Voluntary Accreditation Program administered by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a 501(c)3 independent accrediting entity.

After review and approval, a Notice of Award (NoA) will be prepared and processed, along with appropriate notification to the public. Initial awards provide funds for the first budget period (usually 12 months) and the NoA will indicate support recommended for the remainder of the project period, allocation of Federal funds by budget categories, award requirements, and special conditions, if any.