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PUBLIC HEALTH TASK FORCE 2004: PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS <br />PUBLIC HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PLAN <br />6) Assure an adequately trained public health workforce <br />by: <br />Developing and implementing an outreach and <br />recruitment plan to ensure an adequate, <br />capable, culturally competent and diverse public <br />health workforce. <br />=> Fully funding necessary maintenance and <br />operational needs of the Public Health Training <br />& Information Network (PHTIN); <br />=> Creating public health internships at the state <br />and local level; <br />=> Creating public health scholarships; and <br />=t> Requiring training for Board of Health members <br />and selected public health management <br />positions. <br />Need Addressed /Rationale <br />The public health workforce is aging, and many are approaching retirement. The average age of the <br />workforce is ± 45 years of age. Recruitment is more difficult in public health because of a lack of <br />clarity about what public health does. Turnover in the public health workplace also is a major issue <br />that complicates workforce preparedness planning. <br />Currently there are 188 public health job titles in the state public health personnel system (DHHS) and <br />173 in local public health personnel systems. There are also public health classes within DENR for <br />which numbers are not available at this time. These numerous job titles in the public health personnel <br />system have created many difficulties in the preparation of the workforce. Often titles differ only in <br />level, not in function, and are simply designed to create a career ladder for public health workers. <br />Recent studies have shown that the current public health workforce is unevenly prepared to meet the <br />challenges in the practice of public health today. An estimated 80% of the workforce lacks formal <br />training in public health (CDC - ATSDR, 2001). Moreover, ongoing changes in technology, biomedical <br />science, informatics, and community expectations will continue to redefine the practice of public <br />health, requiring that current public health practitioners receive ongoing training and support to update <br />their existing skills (Pew Health Professions Commission, 1998). <br />Infrastructure /Capacity Improvement <br />This will ensure that all public health practitioners have a basic set of competencies involving general <br />knowledge and skills, and abilities that allow•them to effectively and efficiently function as part of their <br />public health organization or system (CDC - ATSDR, 2000; DHHS, 2000; CDC, 2001d). <br />Budget <br />• $ 10,000 Recruitment Plan <br />• $ PHTIN $ 600,000 <br />• $ 150,000 Internships <br />• $ 200,000 Scholarships <br />• $ 100,000 Board of Health <br />FTEs <br />(0) State <br />(0) Local <br />19 <br />