Developing and implementing health policies is a proven strategy for improving population health, and local health departments (LHDs) play a vital role in shaping healthier communities. With support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), NACCHO provides technical assistance to help LHDs navigate the policy planning and implementation process. Participating LHDs will develop and implement policies addressing either access to care or nutrition security to improve maternal and child health.  

Once the problem statement and key partners are identified, LHDs should begin generating policy ideas to address the identified public health issue. NACCHO developed an exercise to practice the policy identification process with internal partners. The first step is to identify existing policies, potential policy amendments, or brainstorming new policies to address the identified problem. The activity concludes with creating a collaborative policy focus that outlines the problem being addressed, population of interest, policy approach/solution, type of policy (little, medium, or big P), and implementing partners.  The three steps include:

1. Existing Policy Landscape: Individually reflect on existing policies related to your identified problem. Consider whether updates or new policies may be needed.
2. Generating Policy Solutions: Individually brainstorming potential policy solutions that address the problem.
3. Developing a Policy Concept: Collaborating with your LHD counterpart(s) to share and discuss ideas. Work together to draft a concise policy focus/approach, including the problem, population of interest, proposed policy solution, and key partners. 

Click here to access the full exercise instructions. If you use this resource or have feedback, please contact us at [email protected].

This publication is supported by grant #1 U1XMC54192‐01‐00 awarded to the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the Maternal and Child Health Policy Innovation Program (MCH PIP). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the HRSA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.