Publications and Resources

Transforming the public health system in Minnesota

These resources are helpful in understanding the work of transforming Minnesota's public health system.

On this page
Cost and capacity assessment
Grant: Foundational public health responsibilities
Newsletters and updates from the Joint Leadership Team
Message toolkit
Other publications and resources
Reference points: Past SCHSAC/MDH reports that inform this work

• Full report, memo of key findings and next steps (PDF). October 2023. This document has two parts: (1) a memo from the Joint Leadership Team to cost and capacity assessment participants, outlining the assessment purpose, goal, scope, methods, and limitations; key findings; and next steps; and (2) the full report from the University of Minnesota with the findings of the 2022 cost and capacity assessment of the Minnesota state-local public health system.
• Cost and capacity assessment results: Live Q&A (59 minutes). April 2024. Consultants from the University of Minnesota, MDH Community Health Division, and three local public health leaders discuss the findings from the 2022 assessment of Minnesota's public health system's capacity and cost, the tools and graphs that have been developed, and how they use the information with different audiences.
  0:00 - Introduction
  2:15 - Overview of data from University of Minnesota team
  24:45 - Panel with Chelsie Huntley (MDH), Marlee Morrison (St. Joseph's Health / Hubbard County), Sara Benson (Renville County), Sarah Grosshuesch (Wright County)

Data dashboards: Cost and capacity assessment

• Data dashboards: Agency-level dashboard | State-level dashboard
  Local public health can view agency-specific and state-level data from the 2022 Minnesota cost and capacity assessment through interactive dashboards. The web-based dashboards display the assessment’s results across different foundational public health responsibilities. Note: The dashboards are only available on a desktop browser (not mobile), and will open in a new tab.
• Data dashboard navigation and interpretation videos: Playlist of all videos
  • Video 1: Foundational Public Health Responsibilities and Icicle Chart (12 minutes)
    Learn about the foundational public health responsibilities model, how to interpret the icicle chart in the state-level and agency-level dashboards, and see examples and key takeaways for this data.
  • Video 2: Background for Self-Assessed Implementation Data (7 minutes)
    Learn how agencies’ self-assessed expertise and capacity for foundational responsibilities is analyzed and visualized in each of the dashboards.
  • Video 3: Interpretation of Self-Assessed Implementation Data (9 minutes)
    Learn how to interpret data in state-level and agency-level dashboards, including different charts showing agency expertise and capacity, as initially reported and where data was combined. Speakers offer suggestions for how agencies can use the data to inform changes to policy and practice.
  • Video 4: Background for Effort and Spending Data (9 minutes)
    Learn how agencies' reported effort and expenditures for current/needed implementation of the foundational responsibilities were analyzed and visualized in each of the dashboards.
  • Video 5: Interpretation of Effort and Spending Data (10 minutes)
    Learn how to interpret data in state-level and agency-level dashboards, including different charts showing agency effort and spending as bar plots and scatter plots. Speakers also offer suggestions for how agencies can use the data to inform changes to policy and practice.

For the most up-to-date information on the FPHR Grant, including an FAQ, visit: Funding for Foundational Public Health Responsibilities

• Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Grant Rollout (Webinar), February 2024. This webinar kicks off the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Grant rollout, and covers an overview of the grant, how you'll share your workplan and budget with MDH, invoice information, and time for questions and answers.
• Awards: FPHR Grant Funding per Community Health Board (PDF)
  Invoice: FPHR Grant Invoice (XLSX)
• Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Grant Expenditure Guide (PDF), February 2024. The purpose of this document is to provide information on the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities (FPHR) Grant funding. It is intended to be a source of information regarding funding, invoicing, reporting, spending ideas and examples, and answer expenditure questions. This is a living document – check frequently for updates. 
• Foundational Public Health Responsibilities - National Headlines, Minnesota Activities (PDF), December 2023. This document aims to organize the previously developed Minnesota activities under the headlines of the national framework. This will help community health boards identify activities considered foundational and appropriate for the use of FPHR grant funding allocated to community health board during the 2023 legislative session. 

Visit: Newsletter: Public Health System Transformation Update

Subscribe: Updates from the Joint Leadership Team  

Visit: Message Toolkit: Inspiring Partners to Strengthen Public Health in Minnesota

• Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Overview (Webinar), January 2024. This informational session can help you understand the framework of foundational public health responsibilities (capabilities and areas) and determine the scope of activities when designing your Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Grant work plan.
• Transforming Minnesota’s public health system for the 21st century: Report to the Legislature (PDF), December 2022. In the 2021 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature allocated resources to support the first steps of public health system transformation. The bill language directed MDH to assess the current state of the governmental public health system, give grants to community health boards to test new models for public health service delivery, develop recommendations for long term system change, and report back to the Legislature in 2023. This progress report represents the shared analysis, action, and recommendations of MDH, SCHSAC, and LPHA.
• Funding public health in Minnesota: Strengthening our public health infrastructure (PDF), December 2021. This provides a high-level overview of the Infrastructure Fund, a $6 million/year appropriation passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2020 legislative session. It describes the purpose of the funds and the guiding principles developed by the Infrastructure Fund Workgroup to guide the fund distribution.
• Infrastructure Fund priorities: Building capacity in communication, community partnerships, data and epidemiology, and health equity (PDF), December 2021. This describes current priorities for Minnesota's Public Health Infrastructure Fund, a $6 million/year appropriation passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2020 legislative session, and defines priority areas and refers to each area's related national standards.
• Infrastructure Fund Ad Hoc Advisory Group Charge and Membership (PDF), September 2021. This describes the charge and membership roster for the ad hoc advisory group that developed guidance and process for distributing the Infrastructure Fund.
• A new framework for governmental public health in Minnesota (PDF), June 2019. This framework outlines what Minnesotans should expect from their state and local public health partnership, with a set of foundational public health responsibilities that are grounded by a core value: where you live should not determine your level of public health protection.

• Strengthening Public Health Workgroup: Final report to the SCHSAC (PDF), May 2018, SCHSAC workgroup. This workgroup was formed by SCHSAC in response to mounting concerns about persistent resource constraints and wide variability among community health boards related to performance. The workgroup was asked to identify, examine and recommend a set of promising strategies to assure that: 1) basic local public health activities are in place in all parts of Minnesota; and 2) Minnesota's public health system is evolving to meet modern community health issues.
• Strengthening Public Health in Minnesota Action Plan (PDF), September 2018, SCHSAC technical group. In response to SCHSAC approval of the above report and recommendations, MDH staff met several times with the SCHSAC Executive Committee, local public health members of the workgroup, and the Local Public Health Association to explore ways of moving the priorities for action forward.
• From information to action: Using data to improve the public health system (PDF), December 2016, SCHSAC Performance Improvement Steering Committee. The Performance Improvement Steering Committee (Committee) is charged with monitoring and improving the performance of Minnesota's local public health system. Each year the Committee looks at performance data from community health boards on measures that were developed through national consensus and supported by SCHSAC. Despite focused effort, every year PISC has seen differences in the ability of community health boards to meet performance measures. This impacts local communities and strains the statewide system. Having a better understanding of the barriers community health boards face will help SCHSAC and PISC identify solutions that lead to a stronger more effective local public health system. In order to make further progress, PISC urges SCHSAC to take action to understand why community health boards are not able to meet measures and take action to address the identified barriers.
• Advancing health equity in Minnesota: Report to the Legislature (PDF), February 2014, Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota ranks, on average, among the healthiest states in the nation. But the averages do not tell the whole story. Too many people in Minnesota are not as healthy as they could and should be, and the health disparities that exist are significant, persistent and cannot be explained by bio-genetic factors. Minnesota has these disparities in health outcomes because the opportunity to be healthy is not equally available everywhere or for everyone in the state. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of Minnesota's health disparities and health inequities, to identify as far as possible the inequitable conditions that produce health disparities, and to make recommendations to advance health equity in Minnesota.
• Local health department practices to advance health equity (PDF), August 2016, SCHSAC workgroup. SCHSAC, recognizing that health equity is an urgent and compelling public health concern, charged the Advancing Health Equity Workgroup "to provide local elected officials and local public health leaders with the language, understanding, and practical help to advance health equity throughout Minnesota's public health system."
• Updating Minnesota's Local Public Health Act: Ensuring the continued success of a strong public health system (PDF), January 2014, SCHSAC workgroup. In 2012, SCHSAC convened a two-day working session with 30 state and local stakeholders to analyze the current statute, now known as the Local Public Health Act (Minn. Stat. §145A). Working session participants recommended developing specific changes to the statutory language, in order to better reflect current public health practice (that is, keeping what works) and continue to strengthen the state's public health system (fostering continued success). The SCHSAC Local Public Health Act Workgroup was created to work with MDH to develop statutory language to reflect the 2012 working sessions, and to provide input and advice on implementing other high-priority actions via non-statutory means.
• Updating Minnesota's blueprint for public health (PDF), December 2010, SCHSAC workgroup. In 2009, SCHSAC called for a work group to investigate the apparent increase in organizational and governance structure changes at the local level. Later the work group's scope was broadened to encompass a discussion about the foundations underpinning the local public health system and to update the blueprint for strong and successful local health departments.