Are you attending the Public Health Law Practitioners Convening? We’re excited to join the conference in New Orleans and connect with colleagues from across the country as we work collectively to empower public health through law and policy.
From April 30 to May 2, staff members from ChangeLab Solutions will share their expertise on topics that range from the legal history of structural racism to operationalizing equity frameworks.
Please check out our presentations, listed below. We hope to see you at the conference!
Strategies for Equitable Policymaking: Practice-Based Principles & Peer Learning
Tuesday 4/30, 2:00–3:30pm (breakout session)
Becky Johnson, vice president of strategic partnerships; Chassidy Coffin, senior policy analyst; Becca Rieckhoff, attorney
In this interactive session, participants will deepen their understanding of equitable policymaking, apply practice-based principles to specific areas of focus, and engage in peer learning and resource sharing. Facilitated discussions will allow participants to explore how they can support equitable policies by engaging community and cross-sector partners, knowing about public health’s legal authority, and ensuring best practices for equitable implementation and enforcement.
Creating Change Together: Opportunities in Public Health Law
Tuesday 4/30, 2:00–3:30pm (roundtable discussion)
Jami Crespo, senior attorney; Alexis Etow, managing director; Tyra Satchell, policy analyst; Gregory Miao, senior attorney; Heather Wong, attorney
In the past two decades, there has been a growing emphasis on building health departments’ capacity to move further “upstream” to address social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity. Despite increasing commitment in the field, many public health practitioners still struggle with how to operationalize SDOH and equity frameworks — particularly in the face of ongoing structural, institutional, and socio-political challenges. Through facilitated roundtable discussions, participants will discuss challenges, explore opportunities, and share strategies related to navigating some of today’s public health challenges, including (1) creating meaningful relationships and partnerships with communities, (2) identifying innovative funding and financing solutions to advance health equity, (3) navigating real and perceived legal barriers to health and racial equity work, and (4) addressing structural factors that have created, perpetuated, and exacerbated health inequities.
Act for Public Health: A New Framework for Legislation & Litigation Impacting Public Health Authority
Tuesday 4/30, 4:00–5:00pm (breakout session)
Sara Bartel, senior attorney
In the wake of COVID-19, there is considerable legal action related to the powers of health agencies. To have the greatest possible impact in these legal battles, public health agencies and advocates need a clear vision of what public health authority should be, and why. Act for Public Health, an initiative of several public health law organizations, is developing a framework that defines the powers that health agencies need to protect the public's health and promote health equity — and the guardrails that can prevent law or its implementation from causing harm or contributing to inequities. In this session, we update participants on the current state of legislation and litigation related to health powers in the late COVID era and then ask participants to critique and improve our draft framework. The framework will guide future work of Act for Public Health and its partners in supporting robust public health systems.
Building a Shared Understanding of the Legal System’s Role in Creating Racial Health Inequities, Its Impacts on Public Health Practice & Implications for Future Practice
Wednesday 5/1, 11:00am–12:30pm (workshop/training)
Christine Camilleri, senior planner; Shannon Rempe, attorney; Melani Tiongson, attorney; Heather Wong, attorney
The public health field is at a critical inflection point. It faces an internal reckoning with its history as it pauses to reflect on how it can be more responsive to increased demands for equity-centered approaches that have the potential to transform our public health system. This workshop aims to build a shared foundational understanding of the legal history of structural racism and its role in creating health inequities. The workshop will also explore the impacts of structural racism on past, present, and future public health practice. The format will be a mix of content sharing from the presenters and facilitated breakout discussions focused on engaging with tools, resources, and skill-building activities to move from conversation to action. The workshop is designed to increase the collective capacity of the public health workforce to apply and use the tools of law and policy in their day-to-day work to center racial justice and advance health equity.
Leveraging Legal Epidemiology to Promote Health Equity: Applying Lessons Learned from the Field
Wednesday 5/1, 11:00am–12:30pm (roundtable discussion)
Becca Rieckhoff, attorney
Laws and policies have been central to creating and perpetuating today’s unjust health disparities, but they also can — and should — be used to drive positive change. Legal epidemiology is one tool that practitioners can use to systematically identify and examine legal and policy solutions to today’s major public health challenges. This session will share lessons learned from the 2023–2024 Legal Epidemiology Learning Cohort, an opportunity hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ChangeLab Solutions. Four participants will present their multidisciplinary projects and describe how they hope to leverage legal epidemiology skills and methods to advance health equity in their jurisdictions. Attendees can then engage with the presenters and each other about legal epidemiology opportunities and challenges.
CDC's Core Data Use Agreement Approach: What Is It & How Will It Work?
Wednesday 5/1, 2:00–3:30pm (workshop/training)
Jami Crespo, senior attorney; Melani Tiongson, attorney
In response to a 2022 report from CDC's Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) detailing significant problems with the landscape and structure of data sharing between CDC and state, tribal, local, and territorial jurisdictions (STLTs), CDC's Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST) worked with CDC leadership to replace the previous data use agreements (DUAs) with a new "Core DUA" approach. With this new approach, CDC will have a single DUA with each jurisdiction, comprised of a single set of Common Provisions plus addenda that further describe jurisdiction- and data-specific requirements. This workshop creates space for health department attorneys and other staff involved in developing DUAs and data-focused partnerships with CDC to respond to the new approach, relate potential benefits and challenges, and discuss opportunities to align activities to ensure efficiency and sustainability. In the second half of the session, participants will review and comment on draft resources that are being developed to support implementation of the Core DUA.
Public Health Law Partners Panel Discussion - Late-breaking session!
Wednesday 5/1, 4:00–5:00pm
Sarah de Guia, chief executive officer
If You Can’t See Where You’re Going, Ask Someone Who's Been There Before: Promoting Workforce Development Through CDC’s Public Health Law Fellowship
Thursday 5/2, 10:15–11:15am (breakout session)
Renée Wilson-Simmons, managing director
Achieving health equity requires all people — regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identification, disability, socioeconomic status, geographic location, or other societal constructs — to have fair access, opportunity, and the necessary resources to achieve their highest potential for good health and wellness in all dimensions. As a nation, the United States is far from achieving that goal, but one avenue currently being pursued to advance toward it is strengthening the public health law workforce while also increasing diversity within the field and preparing the next generation of public health law professionals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Law Fellowship is doing just that. Offered in partnership with ChangeLab Solutions, the fellowship is providing current graduate students and recent graduates (e.g., from MPH, DrPH, MPA, PhD, and JD programs) with on-the-job training for careers in public health law and policy. Presenters will talk about their fellowship experiences, lessons learned, and current work. There will be time for Q&A.
Advancing Racial Equity in Rural Communities: Legal & Policy Strategies to Support Opportunity, Health & Justice
Thursday 5/2, 10:15–11:15am (breakout session)
Sarah de Guia, chief executive officer
There are many new federal resources to improve rural health, yet without new partnerships and legal and policy strategies, we run the risk of perpetuating inequities and disparities, especially in BIPOC communities. This session will explore new ways to partner with community organizations and others to support rural health equity and will discuss the role of public health legal and policy strategies to improve rural prosperity. Through an exploration of legal concepts and a review of judicial interpretations of civil rights laws; highlights of successful cross-governmental strategies and programs; and sharing how to center traditionally marginalized and excluded communities in processes that shape policies, attendees will gain valuable insights to help them support rural communities, policymakers, and their partners through the practice of public health law.
4/23/2024