Our Work
CWORPH is the home of the nation's first HRSA/CDC Public Health Workforce Research Center and the site of numerous other innovative research projects related to public health workforce.
HRSA/CDC Public Health Workforce Research Center
The Public Health Health Workforce Research Center (PHWRC) is a joint initiative between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Services Research Administration (HRSA). This cooperative agreement provides funding over 5 years (2022-2027) for research focused on:
- Evaluating the role(s) of public health occupations in delivering programs, including essential or foundational public health services, across populations.
- Investigating public health workforce composition, data, needs, sufficiency, and distribution including both governmental (i.e., federal, state, local, tribal, territorial) and non-governmental entities.
- Assessing public health workforce development methods including but not limited to recruitment and training models and the outlook and analytics for workforce needs.
- Conducting and evaluating public health workforce implementation scientific research, including identifying evidence-informed strategies and interventions. CWORPH Principal Investigators collaborate with partners to conduct 8-10 studies per year, with guidance and direction from both CDC and HRSA.
Summaries of Year 1 PHWRC Projects (2022-2023)
Summaries of Year 2 PHWRC Projects (2023-2024)
Summaries of Year 3 PHWRC Projects (2024-2025)
The Public Health Workforce Research Center is supported by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by CDC, HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Enumeration of the Public Health Workforce
For decades, public health practitioners, policy-makers, and, at times, the public, have asked how many people work in public health. These numbers are important to set a baseline to inform and evaluate workforce infrastructure-building efforts. Yet, the federal government has never systematically answered this question; enumerations of the governmental public health workforce have long been left to non-profits, academics, and others in the field. The reasons for this are many but ultimately reduce to:
- Lack of licensure data for public health officials.
- Disagreement over how to define the taxonomies of public health workers. Public health has attempted to resolve these two issues since 1908, when the first “limited enumeration” of the field was undertaken.
The latest effort, Enumeration 2024, is a collaboration with the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) that aims to build upon recommendations for addressing data challenges while moving forward the methods for enumerating local, state, and federal governmental health employees. The purpose of this project is to expand on previous enumerations by providing three distinct enumeration efforts:
- Total counts enumeration of the full governmental public health workforce
- Occupation-specific enumeration.
- Analyses and enumeration of public health nurses using novel data.
Enumeration of the Public Health Workforce
CDC National Partners Cooperative Agreement
CWORPH is funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Partners Cooperative Agreement, which supports analysis and evaluation related to local governmental public health issues, particularly workforce recruitment and retention. Current projects include a focus on Capacity and Cost Assessments, Community Health Workers, and Burnout.
All Products
Building the Capacity of Community-Oriented Occupations: Describing the Workforce in State and Local Health Departments
Community-oriented workers are essential to the delivery of population-based services across state and local health department systems, as they are often the frontline providers of culturally responsive care, outreach, and health education in underserved communities. This infographic describes the distribution, employment trends, and other data related to these workers in state and local health departments.
Local-Level Need, Supply, and Priority Areas for Public Health Nurses
Public health nurses (PHNs) are one of the largest public health occupation groups, bringing important expertise to the activities of public health; however, their roles and distribution differ across the country. The objective of this study was to estimate the relative need for, supply of, and priority areas for PHNs at the county level.
Identifying the Unique Skills and Roles of Disease Intervention Specialists in the Public Health Landscape
Disease intervention specialists (DISs) play a crucial role in the public health workforce by conducting essential tasks such as contact tracing, contact interviews, and providing referrals for services to control disease spread. Despite the importance of DISs, research is lacking on the job tasks that they perform and the role that they serve in public health agencies. The objective of this study was to identify the unique skill sets of DISs relative to other public health occupations.
The public health nurse is a distinct occupation: Contrasting skills, competencies, and job tasks between public health nurses and registered nurses
We conducted a literature review, analyzed data from a large-scale data set of job postings for public health nurses and registered nurses, and conducted a statistical analysis of responses to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) and Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS).
Innovations and Hiring Improvements to Address Public Health Workforce Recruitment
This study engaged state and local health agency employees involved in the hiring process to examine the impact of hiring laws and civil service requirements on recruitment processes. Additionally, we identified innovative approaches to improve recruitment.
Public Health Recruitment and Retention: Challenges & Solutions
Public health departments are facing big challenges in hiring and keeping staff, with nearly half the workforce planning to leave in the next few years. This resource highlights practical solutions: faster hiring, mentorship, and career pipelines to help strengthen and sustain the public health workforce.
The Public Health Workforce Calculator in a Post-COVID Era
A new tool, the Public Health Workforce Calculator (“Workforce Calculator”), was developed near the onset of the COVID pandemic to help agencies estimate the staffing they would need to fully implement the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS). The data underlying the Workforce Calculator algorithm was from pre-pandemic time periods.
A Holistic and Sustainable Approach to Public Health Staffing and Workforce Development.
The nation's public health system is chronically under-resourced and ill-equipped to respond, resulting in a strained workforce that must remain nimble. Maintaining responsiveness to community needs requires a sustainable system with adequate worker supports.
Salary and Job Requirement Differences for Jobs in Local and State Health Departments versus the Private Sector: Analysis of Large-Scale Job Postings Data
Our goal was to utilize data from job postings to determine if there were significant differences in salary, education, or experience requirements when comparing jobs in local or state government health departments with the same types of jobs posted in other sectors.
Evaluating Whether a Career Service Office Equitably Serves Diverse Students at a School of Public Health
Career Services offices (CSOs) serve an essential role in higher education institutions, helping graduates to identify their career interests and goals, choose a career pathway, explore career options, and execute a successful job search.
Employer Demand and Desired Skills for Public Health Graduates: Evidence From Job Postings
To determine whether job postings from employers seeking master of public health (MPH) graduates require skills aligning with Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH) competencies.
Enumeration 2024: What We Know and What We Wish We Knew About the Governmental Public Health Workforce in a COVID-19 Recovery Landscape
Workforce estimates show that while state and local public health staffing rebounded to around 239,000 employees in 2022, this growth hasn't kept pace with population increases, and many hires were temporary. Regional disparities, underrepresentation of public health nurses, and looming workforce departures highlight the urgent need for sustained investment, strategic planning, and stronger data collection across all levels of government, including Tribal and territorial agencies.