Two Years of the Revised Foundational Public Health Services

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Reena Chudgar

This entry is part 45 of 46 in the series Focus on Accreditation and Innovation

It has been two years since the most recent version of the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) framework was released. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), as the stewards of the FPHS, alongside the Funders Forum on Accountable Health, at George Washington University, updated the framework to reflect the current landscape around public health, learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, and learnings from public health departments and practitioners overall.

The Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) define a minimum package of public health capabilities and programs that no jurisdiction can be without. It outlines the unique responsibilities for governmental public health and describes the foundational infrastructure that’s needed to be able to assure a thriving community. Community-specific services describe the local protections and services that are unique to the needs of a community and state-wide system. The framework provides a common narrative for public health infrastructure.

Since this revision, the FPHS has continued to gain renewed prominence and momentum in the field of public health, in particular as a framework that can provide a vision for and guide public health transformation.

Notably, the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), a historical investment supporting the infrastructure needs of health departments across the United States, focuses on workforce, Foundational Capabilities, and Data Modernization. Health departments and systems are focusing PHIG funding efforts to build Foundational Capabilities and build and strengthening the public health workforce to provide the FPHS. PHAB continues to lead efforts with state-systems across the United States to adopt and implement the FPHS. The Foundational Capability measures are embedded throughout V2022 of the PHAB Standards and Measures. Health departments are assessing readiness for and capacity to demonstrate the Foundational Capability measures through the PHAB Readiness Assessment, Pathways Recognition, and Accreditation/Reaccreditation. Through its 21^st Century Learning Community, PHAB engages with member state systems to use the FPHS for public health transformation efforts: through assessment of current capacity and cost, using data to make the case for sustainable funding for public health, and implementing strategies to build the Foundational Capabilities and Areas. And finally, in the past two years, PHAB has released a variety of tools to support understanding and use of the FPHS: including the PHAB Readiness Assessment, the FPHS Capacity and Cost Assessment, the Public Health Workforce Calculator, and more.

As we’ve built the tools, resources, and supports over the last two years, PHAB is leaning into the next two years as critical for catalytic change in increasing capacity and spread of the FPHS everywhere.

Author Profile

Reena Chudgar: Reena Chudgar, MPH, is the Director of Public Health Systems and Services at the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) supporting implementation of the Public Health National Center for Innovations and Center for Sharing Public Health Services efforts. Reena joined PHAB/PHNCI in April 2019 and engages with health departments and communities in using innovation as a tool for transformation. Her work centers around strategy and program implementation, and is passionate about social and systems change, addressing root causes of historical and current racial and health inequities, and local and people-centered decision making. Prior to joining PHAB, Reena served as Director for Performance Improvement at the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO), where she supports health departments in fostering partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, community and strategic planning, and more. Reena received a Master of Public Health degree and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Emory University.