Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Workforce Competencies Framework

Public Health agencies play a critical role in promoting and protecting the health of all Americans. The public health workforce must acquire and retain broad competencies to respond to current and emerging health threats. Los Angeles (LA) County, with a population of over 10 million residents spanning across 4000 square miles and 88 cities, is faced with a diverse array of public health priorities and challenges. In order to meet these challenges, it is critical that LA County Department of Public Health's (DPH's) workforce of 4,000 is ready and capable to support these public health efforts. To address this need, the department undertook a major effort to delineate competencies for its entire public health workforce with the goal of having a comprehensive set around which training and development activities can be planned. To build on existing national efforts in this area, the Public Health Workforce Competencies Framework is based on the eight-domain structure developed and recently revised by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice. The Council on Linkages' competencies were adapted and revised for optimal relevance and application within LA County DPH. Numerous other sources were reviewed to identify additional competencies for inclusion within the Framework. This resulted in a highly customized and comprehensive set of competencies applicable to LA County DPH workforce. The Framework and process for development will be shared along with next steps.