Model Practices
NACCHO strives to recognize the best local public health practices in the country. This is why we created the Model Practices Awards.
NACCHO’s Model Practices Program nationally honors and recognizes outstanding local public health practice and shares the outstanding practices through the Model Practices Database. By submitting a practice, LHDs contribute to the overall improvement of public health through effective evidence-based practice methods.
Model Practices are awarded to local health departments across the country for implementing programs that demonstrate exemplary and replicable outcomes in response to an identified public health need. Promising Practices are exciting approaches and strategies to local public health issues that are on track to becoming Model Practices. Each awarded practice was reviewed by a committee of peers, made up of other local health department professionals, and selected from a competitive collection of applications.
The application period for the 2021 Model Practices Program will open in November 2020. Have questions? Please email model-practices@naccho.org.
Model Practices
2018 Winner: Harris County
Harris County won several Model Practice awards in 2018. One of their winning projects was related to their response efforts after Hurricane Harvey.
2018 Winner: Cobb and Douglas
Cobb and Douglas won an 2018 Model Practices Award for their project to start a 501(c)3 organization in order to diversify public health funding.
2018 Winner: Tri-County
Tri-County won an 2018 Model Practices Award for their project utilizing web-based GIS technology to address the opioid crisis at the neighborhood level.
The practices listed below have been awarded for 2019.
| Presented to | For an innovative program |
|---|---|
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Sealing and Educating All Little Smiles |
| Florida Department of Health in Pinellas | Community Resource Bus |
| Farmington Valley Health District | Building Resilient Schools: A public health approach to address ACEs and support mental well-being |
| City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District | Neighborhoods Program |
| New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | Long Term Care Emergency Management Programs |
| Salt Lake County Health Department | Salt Lake County Health Department's Response to a Hep A Outbreak |
| Tompkins County Health Department | Ithaca College Public Health Initiatives |
| Boston Public Health Commission QI Program | Building a Culture of Improvement |
| Hennepin County Public Health | Public Health/Health Promotion |
| Los Angeles County Department of Public Health | City Collaboration Strategy |
| Minneapolis Health Department | Blueprint Approved Institute |
| Monterey County Health Department Environmental Health Bureau | Monterey County Food Safety Conference |
| Harris County Public Health | Harris County Public Health Disaster Recovery Plan |
| Cuyahoga County Board of Health | Early Ages Healthy Stages: Working Together to Create Healthier Early Learning Environments |
| Charles County Department of Health | Charles County Mobile Integrated Healthcare |
| Public Health- Dayton & Montgomery County | Community Overdose Action Team |
| Florida Department of Health in Polk County | Polk Lab Efficiency Team |
| Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County | Community Partnership |
| Florida Department of Health in Putnam County | Chronic Disease Prevention and Management |
| Florida Department of Health in Leon County | Consolidated Regional Information Technology Support Service Hub |
| City of El Paso Health/Fire Departments | Neighborhood Fire Stations Expand Public Health Services |
| Detroit Department of Health | Emergency Solutions Outreach and Housing Program |
| Salt Lake County Health Department | Determining Programmatic Costs is a Critical Piece In Performance Management |
| Denver Public Health | Public Health Core Competencies |
| Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County: Community Health | A Community Wellness Program to Address Overweight and Obesity in Hillsborough County, Florida: Get Into Fitness Today (GIFT) |
| Michigan Department of Health and Human Services | Special Pathogen Legal Training and Table Top Exercise for Judges and Court Administrators |
| Florida Department of Health Nassau County Health Department | Stop the Bleed |
| Cobb and Douglas Public Health | Partnership between Cobb and Douglas Public MRC & the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for creating continuity during a mass fatality |
| Columbus Public Health | Youth Tobacco Sales Restrictions at Retail Locations: Tobacco 21 |
| Tompkins County Health Department | SafeCare Program |
| Ocean County Health Department | Ocean County Overdose Fatality Review Program |
| Houston Health Department | Integrated Care for the Chronically Homeless |
| Columbus Public Health | Columbus CARE Coalition |
| Tri-County Health Department | Aurora Syringe Access Services |
| Detroit Department of Health | iDecide Detroit: Engaging Youth to Reduce Unintended Teen Pregnancy |
| OKC - County Health Department | Vectorborne Diseases Prevention Program in Oklahoma City-County County |
| Michigan Association for Local Public Health | Sustaining Community Based Immunization Action |
| Harris County Public Health | An Integrated Vector Management Approach Towards Emerging Infectious Diseases Prevention in Harris County and the City of Houston |
| Tri-County Health Department | Radiation/Nuclear Disaster Planning for non-EPZs |
| Florida Department of Health, Volusia County | Incentives Tracking System |
| Monterey County Health Department Environmental Health Bureau | Monterey County Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (MEPHLI) |
| Alameda County Public Health Department - Nutrition Services | Cooking for Health Academy Success |
| Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County | HPV Ambassador Program: A Collaborative Approach to Increasing Vaccination Uptake |
| Union County Health Department | Prevention of Older Adult Falls Through Medication Management and Home Safety Education |
| Macomb County Health Department | Youth Preparedness Program |
| Garrett County Health Department | The Garrett County Planning Tool |
| Middlesex County Office of Health Services | Door to Door Emergency Medication Dispensing |
| Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County | County Health Department |
| Sutter County Health and Human Services Department-Public Health Branch | Supporting Mothers in Jail - No Barriers to Breastfeeding While Incarcerated |
| Albany County Department of Health | Creating Healthy Connections in Albany County, NY |
| Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County | Miami-Dade Test and Treat |
| Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County | PrEPLink: An Active PrEP Referral System |
| Houston Health Department | The Community Care Transitions Program Affecting Positive Health Outcomes in Older Adults |
| Presented to | For an innovative program |
|---|---|
| Florida Department of Health in Collier County | School Health Screeing Team: Quickest Vision Screeners in the State |
| Detroit Department of Health | Lead Primary Prevention Pilot |
| City of El Paso Department of Public Health | Immunization Program |
| San Francisco Department of Public Health, Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response | Complex Coordination: Emergency Planning for Those on Medication-Assisted Treatment |
| County of San Diego, Public Health Services Department of the Health and Human Services Agency | Live Well Community Market Program |
| DuPage County Health Department | The Ask: Partnering to Connect At-Risk Teens with Sexual Health Resources |
| Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health | Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health |
| Salt Lake County Health Department | Building Resilience in a Public Health Workforce: A Model Active Shooter Training and Exercise Program for Responders |
| Los Angeles County Department of Public Health | Multi-sectoral approaches to implement healthy food procurement efforts in the food system |
| Bullitt County Health Department | Hepatitis A Vaccination in Correctional Facilities |
| Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments | Integrated Foodborne Illness Investigations: A Model of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Collaboration |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Decrease HIV Risk Through Use of PrEP |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Making a Tobacco Free Florida in Broward County |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | MASS (Mammograms After Sunday Service) |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Program Collaboration to Improve HIV Retention in Care |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Protect Your Baby with Shots by Two |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Reducing Community Viral Load through Test and Treat |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | Students Preventing Unintentional Drowning |
| Florida Department of Health in Broward County | WIC Fluoride Varnish Program |
| Harris County Public Health | Starting Early: Harris County |
| Lake County General Health District | Operationalizing MRC Volunteers to Implement Matter of Balance |
| Albany County Department of Health | Million Hearts® in Municipalities: Tobacco Cessation in a Mental Health Clinic in Albany County, New York |
| Tulsa City-County Health Department | Blending Nutrition and Education in Schools |
| Department of Health Hillsborough County | Cultivating Successful Leaders (CSL) |
| Hennepin County Public Health | Assessment for and Provision of Essential Services Needs for Individuals in Isolation and Quarantine |
| Harris County Public Health | Public Health -Incident Support Team (PH-IST) |
| Hennepin County Public Health | Survey of the Health of All the Population and Environment (SHAPE) |
| Florida Department of Health in Saint Johns County St. Johns County | Engaging the Community in Health Improvement Planning by Using Evidence-Based Tools |
| Union County Health Department | Small Town, Big Heart: How a Grassroots Effort Changed the Landscape and Health of a Community |
| Summit County Public Health | Tobacco 21 |
| Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County | Providing Family Planning Services During Maternal Child Health Field Visits to Enhance Family Services and Improve Outcomes for Mother and Child |
| Missoula City-County Health Department | The Foster Child Health Program |
| Columbus Public Health | Access to Care and Neighborhood Social Work Programs” |
| Harris County Public Health | Creating a Premier One Health Conference |
| Houston Health Department | Cities Changing Diabetes |
| Chicago Department of Public Health | A Learning Collaborative for Health Center Decision Makers and Providers to Increase Capacity for Prescribing Medications to Treat Opioid Use |
| Florida Department of Health in Seminole County | Increasing Vaccination Record Compliance Among Private Schools |
| Nassau County Department of Health | Pharmacy Verification in Nassau County |
| Howard County Health Department | Howard County Health Department |
| Giles County Health Department RISE Program | Giles County Health Department RISE Program |
| Denton County Public Health | Integration of the Dental Services Program |
| Columbus Public Health - Women's Health & Wellness Center | Reproductive Health Services for Women in Treatment |
| Florida Department of Health in Volusia County | The FL Breast and Cervical Canter Enhancement Monitoring System |
| Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County | Building Community Resiliency |
| Tulsa City-County Health Department | Tulsa Area Housing Task Force |
| Washington County | Enhancing Suicide Prevention Through Innovative Partnerships |
| Monterey County Health Department Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Unit | enLACE (Leadership and Civic Engagement) Academy |
| Monterey County Health Department Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Unit | Health Equity Scholars Academy |
| Nassau County Department of Health | Using public health enforcement as an instrument of change: an integrated regulatory/non-regulatory approach |
| Oakland County Health Division | Hepatitis A Outbreak Response |
| Oakland County Health Division | Oakland County |
| Detroit Health Department | Link-Up Rx |
| OK State Department of Health OK MRC Nurses Unit | OKMRC Nursing Student Externship Leadership Development |
| Macomb County Health Department | Addressing a Hepatitis A Outbreak - Collaborative Community Response |
| Florida Department of Health in Citrus County | Citrus County Breaking Barriers to Breastfeeding Support |
| Harris County Public Health | Adoption, Implementation, and Enhancement of Flu Portal, a School Based Online ILI Surveillance Tool in Harris County, TX |
| City of Minneapolis Health Department | Preparedness Habits |
| Jefferson County Public Health | Jefferson County Public Health Just in Time Closed POD Protocol |
| Monterey County | Agricultural Field Toilet Inspection Program |
| Monterey County | Educating and Engaging the Public in Annual Clean Up Day |
| Monterey County | Gold Seal Food Facility Inspection Program |
| Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County | Community Collaboration to Enhance STD Testing at a Juvenile Assessment Center |
| Carver County Public Health | Health Equity Data Analysis |
| Rappahannock Area Health District | Eat Green Fredericksburg |
| San Bernardino County Department of Public Health | Elevated Risk Plan |
| San Bernardino County Department of Public Health | Vector Control Collaboration Efforst Between Agencies in Two States |
| North Central District Health Department | Miles of Smiles Dental Program |
| Florida Department of Health in Seminole County | Promoting an Engaged Workforce |
| Harris County Public Health | Office of Policy and Planning |
| Nassau County Department of Health | Public Health Accreditation: A Model Process for a Model Practice |
| Nassau County Department of Health | Licensing of Petroleum Bulk Storage Tank Conttractors |
| Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County | Mass Casualty Exercise |
| Anne Arundel County Department of Health | Road to Recovery at Ordnance Road Correctional Center |
| Cobb and Douglas Public Health | Promoting Public Health Through an Innovative Mass Media Initiative |
| Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County | Engaging State and Local Officials in Reducing New HIV Infections |
| Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County | Improving School Health Screenings through Collaborative Efforts |
If you have any questions concerning the Model Practices program please e-mail model-practices@naccho.org and a member of NACCHO’s Model Practices team will get back with you.