In 2023, NACCHO, with support from the CDC, funded local and Tribal health departments to conduct community engagement activities designed to enhance their efforts to reduce syphilis in their communities. The activities supported the goal of creating robust community-informed syphilis reduction plans; these included hosting town hall meetings, organizing focus groups, developing and disseminating surveys, conducting interviews, and forming community advisory boards with the goal of creating robust community engagement plans. Their efforts focused on forming and strengthening strategic partnerships with individuals and organizations to better understand community needs, enhance outreach, and build trust. This report describes this process, key takeaways from community engagement, syphilis reduction plans and challenges, and in-depth summaries from 14 sites.

In addition, a case study focused on the experiences of the two Tribal health departments and a checklist for use by other jurisdictions planning community engagement activities were developed.