08/21/2026

News for Local Health Departments

NACCHO’s Podcast from Washington

On this month’s podcast, Victoria Van de Vate, NACCHO's Director of Government Affairs, and Lauren Soule, Government Affairs Senior Specialist, cover news about the new Director of the CDC as well as the recent executive order on childhood vaccinations. In addition, they provide an update on federal funding and discuss tips for meeting with federal elected officials during August recess. Resources mentioned are available through NACCHO's Public Health is Local toolkit, and recordings of past Public Health is Local webinars can be found on NACCHO University. Let us know how your meetings went so we can track your great work and follow up with offices if necessary. The Public Health is Local one-pager is also available for you to bring to your meetings. Also on the podcast, Shannon Fox, Community Health Planner, Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department and Siani Antoine-Isijola, NACCHO Senior Program Analyst - Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health discuss NACCHO’s Maternal and Child Health Policy Innovation Program.

Let Congress Know that Public Health is Local

Every year, Congress makes critical decisions on policies and funding that impact local health departments. NACCHO is encouraging our members to meet with legislators in-state and in-district during August recess. This is a great opportunity to educate your representatives on the ways that recent and proposed policy changes are impacting local public health in the communities that they represent. As part of this initiative, NACCHO developed a step-by-step guide to scheduling educational meetings with your Members of Congress and a handout to leave behind after the meeting. If you can't meet with your federal elected officials, there are other ways to connect with them. Throughout August, you'll have the opportunity to take action on these key decision points: 

• Funding for Fiscal Year 2027 - Encourage Congress to sustain responsible funding levels for federal health agencies. 
• Reauthorization of Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program - Urge Congress to support the public health workforce and ensure local health departments can hire and retain qualified staff. 
• Withdraw the Proposed OMB Grant Review Rule - Ask Congress to request that OMB withdraw the Federal Financial Assistance rule which would make drastic changes to federal grants 

If you haven't already, please sign up for NACCHO's Congressional Action Network to take part in this month's series and to keep up with future calls to action. 

NACCHO Expands Online Course for Local Health Departments on Community-Based Suicide Prevention

With support from the CDC, NACCHO has expanded its free, self-paced Community-Based Suicide Prevention for Local Health Departments online course with new content, tools, and practical exercises to help local health departments (LHDs) build their suicide prevention efforts. Now featuring five modules, the course covers how LHDs can strengthen suicide prevention infrastructure, build partnerships, select upstream prevention strategies, promote lethal means safety, and organize response and support after suicide attempts and loss. New content includes a dedicated module on suicide prevention infrastructure and expanded guidance on upstream prevention strategies. Through interactive scenarios and real-world examples, learners can practice selecting strategies that fit their community context. The course also includes new downloadable resources, including the Upstream Suicide Prevention Strategy Match Cheat Sheet to help identify upstream strategies and next steps, and the Suicide Prevention Core Competencies for Local Health Department Staff, a framework for building workforce capacity across career stages. Start learning today! Use or create a free MyNACCHO login to access the course here. For questions, contact ivp@naccho.org. 

NACCHO Webinar | Understanding Assisted Living: Building Effective Partnerships with Local Health Departments to Support Infection Prevention and Control

Assisted living communities play an important role in supporting residents, but their structure and healthcare needs can differ from those of skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare settings. Join NACCHO, CDC, and Argentum on September 2, from 1:00–2:00 PM ET, for a panel discussion which will help local health departments better understand assisted living communities, explore considerations for infection prevention and control (IPC) training and outbreak preparedness, and hear perspectives from national and assisted living partners working to strengthen healthcare IPC across settings. Learn more and register here. 

Virtual Training Opportunity: Reducing Stigma Associated with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs)

Join us Wednesday, September 16, 2026 from 11am-1pm MDT (1-3pm EST) for Reducing Stigma Associated with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), an interactive, two-hour virtual training presented by the Center for Health and Safety Culture at Montana State University (MSU) in collaboration with NACCHO. This engaging training provides the opportunity to interact with other participants via a breakout session and dive into practical approaches for reducing stigma around FASDs. Please note that this is an interactive, synchronous training. Cameras are encouraged to be on, and participants will be asked to actively engage in discussions with others. Please see the full training description and registration here. 

Cyclospora: Updates and Resources for Local Health Departments

While the FDA, CDC, and state and local partners are investigating an ongoing multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections, NACCHO is actively monitoring the situation and working to ensure LHDs have timely information and resources they need to prepare and respond. Learn more and access resources for LHDs here. This blog post will be updated as the situation evolves. Are you or your health department actively engaged in responding to cyclosporiasis? Please fill out this form to let us know. NACCHO is collecting information from members about: 

• What role your LHD is playing in monitoring, responding to, or communicating about the situation 
• Any gaps in federal support or resources that NACCHO can help elevate or advocate for on your behalf 

Join the 2026-2027 Syphilis Community of Practice

NACCHO's Syphilis Community of Practice (CoP) meets bimonthly to discuss emerging trends, concerns, and best practices related to the prevention, testing, and treatment of syphilis, and how this is being addressed by local and tribal health departments and their partners. If you are interested in being a part of the 26-27 CoP, please complete this brief form.

2027 HSPH Program Evaluation Practicum (formerly the CDC and Harvard Program Evaluation Practicum) 

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is now accepting applications from Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programs interested in serving as host sites for the 2027 HSPH Program Evaluation Practicum. This unique opportunity provides participating programs with a comprehensive, ready-to-use evaluation plan developed by Harvard students in collaboration with program staff and faculty mentors. The practicum also offers valuable evaluation training and technical assistance to help strengthen program evaluation capacity and demonstrate program impact. State, tribal, local, and other MCH programs are encouraged to apply. Applications are due by September 11, 2026, and selected programs will participate in the practicum during January 2027. Questions may be directed to Olivia Hiller at osmith@hsph.harvard.edu.