Every community deserves the opportunity to be healthy.
In North Carolina, local and state public health agencies provide vital services like access to nutritious food, clean water, quality healthcare, and more — that help communities thrive.
To deliver these services effectively, public health departments rely on Foundational Capabilities: the core skills and systems that support all public health work.
Foundational Capabilities
Investments in North Carolina Foundational Capabilities (NCFC) initiatives are helping the public health workforce support healthy communities across the state. Together, this work ensures North Carolina’s public health system remains strong, equipped, and responsive to community needs.
Background
In 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) granted the NC Division of Public Health (NC DPH) funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). NC DPH used initial ARPA funds to partner with NCIPH on an annual North Carolina Foundational Capabilities (NCFC) Assessment — commissioned to evaluate the system’s ability to deliver foundational public health services, better understand workforce capacity and expertise, and inform strategic public health investment opportunities.
Subsequent Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) funds were issued in 2023 to continue vital investments in our North Carolina public health infrastructure and workforce. The NCFC Task Force was formed in 2024 and used assessment data to prioritize capabilities for improvement, and has guided the development of initiatives to strengthen the workforce across the state.
Four Foundational Capabilities are now at the core of ongoing, targeted investments to improve the capacity and expertise of the public health workforce and improve the delivery of vital public health services across the state.
Funding Acknowledgement
This work is supported through a contract to the North Carolina Institute for Public Health from the North Carolina Division of Public Health as part of funds made available in whole from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for STLT Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce, through OE22-2203: Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems Grant (PHIG).
