Strengthening North Carolina Foundational Capabilities
​Investments in North Carolina Foundational Capabilities initiatives are helping the public health workforce support healthy communities across the state.
Four capabilities were prioritized based on findings from the NC Foundational Capabilities Assessment and are being supported by North Carolina Institute for Public Health in partnership with the North Carolina Division of Public Health:
COMMUNICATIONS
Share health information with communities in ways people can understand and use to make good decisions about their health.
Our work connects health communicators across counties to improve their ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and timely with their communities. This involves sharing timely and accurate information in an understandable manner – whether we’re engaging with local news media, over social media platforms, during emergencies, or while promoting health education and outreach.
ACCOUNTABILITY & PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Track work, measure results, and continuously improve what organizations do to serve the community better.
Our work assists governmental public health agencies run effectively, track their progress, and keep improving their services by setting goals, evaluating outcomes, and making data-informed decisions. This involves maintaining a performance management structure and establishing appropriate quality improvement initiatives.
POLICY DEVELOPMENT
& SUPPORT
Create, influence, and carry out rules, laws, and procedures that protect and improve community health.
Our work offers opportunities for building skills, relationships, trust and collaboration with policy-engaged public health partners in North Carolina. This involves collaboration with communities, organizations, and leaders to create policies that promote health – by identifying public health challenges, helping develop solutions, and ensuring effective implementation of those solutions.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCIES
Run organizations effectively - managing our people, money, technology, facilities, and operations - so we can do our public health work well.
Our work supports statewide public health employees through professional development, training opportunities, leadership support, and collaborative learning. We aim to strengthen North Carolina’s governmental public health workforce and our ability to run public health organizations effectively through better financial management, technology advancement, and operational maintenance.
NC Foundational Capabilities Assessment
The North Carolina Foundational Capabilities (NCFC) Assessment examines the North Carolina governmental public health system's capacity to deliver on the Foundational Public Health Services. This annual assessment was commissioned by the North Carolina Division of Public Health (NC DPH) to provide actionable, state-wide and region-specific data to public health leaders as they plan their work to improve public health infrastructure in North Carolina.
This work results in a North Carolina Foundational Capabilities (NCFC) annual assessment which serves to:
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Serve as a basis for prioritizing investments in governmental public health services
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Evaluate the system’s ability to deliver foundational public health services
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Gauge the expertise and capacity of NC public health agencies and workforce
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Better understand the infrastructure needed to provide basic public health protection to communities
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Inform strategic public health investment opportunities prioritized by the NCFC Taskforce
Since 2022, NCIPH has been administering surveys, organizing focus groups, and conducting interviews with NC governmental public health workers and leaders to guide statewide public health investments. 
The North Carolina Foundational Capabilities (NCFC) Task Force was formed in 2024 to prioritize and oversee initiatives focused on improving Foundational Capabilities of local and state public health agencies.
