National Voluntary Accreditation for Public Health Departments

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is supporting the implementation of a national voluntary accreditation program for state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit 501(c)3 entity, serves as the independent accrediting body. PHAB led the development and testing activities, with significant participation from local, tribal, state, and national leaders and launched the national accreditation program on September 14, 2011. PHAB began accrediting health departments in 2013.

Key Resources

Public Health Accreditation Board Website
Standards, accreditation guidance, and other resources to help health departments with national accreditation efforts

National Voluntary Accreditation for Public Health Departments [PDF – 153 KB]
CDC fact sheet

Assessing Outcomes from Public Health Accreditation [PDF – 601 KB]
Evaluation findings that describe the range of benefits of accreditation reported by health departments (NORC at the University of Chicago, June 2021)

Impact of Public Health Accreditation
Journal issue featuring scientific articles, case studies, and commentaries about the impact of public health accreditation (Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, May/June 2018)

CDC Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) and Inclusion of Accreditation-Related Language [PDF – 267 KB]
Describes the accreditation-related language in CDC NOFOs