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The Community
Assessment Guide Book can be considered a resource document
or toolkit for county public health departments, Healthy Carolinians
partnerships, and other community agencies. Counties start at many
different places in the community health assessment process. Local
Health Departments are required to complete a community health assessment
as part of the consolidated contract agreement and for state accreditation.
The health department is encouraged to be a partner with their Healthy
Carolinians partnership, local community agencies, community residents
and leaders. Healthy Carolinians partnerships are required to utilize
the county community assessment as part of the certification/recertification
process. This process involves broad representation from across
the community, which provides the basis of the collaborative comprehensive
community health assessment. There is no need to form a new community
assessment team if a Healthy Carolinians partnership exists.
Community
Assessment Cycle
The required public health community
assessment and the resulting required Community Assessment Document
are on a 4-year cycle,
replacing the 2-year cycle that has been in place for the past 28
years.
Each local health department is
assigned to a specific 4-year cycle. Each year a group of counties/local
health departments will engage in community assessment. Support
and training from the Office of Healty Carolinians and Health
Education and the State
Center for Health Statistics (SCHS) will be provided each year.
Each county’s 4-year community
assessment cycle will be synchronized with Healthy Carolinians Certification/Recertification.
Ongoing Healthy Carolinians
recertification has also been changed to a 4-year cycle.
The recertification will be scheduled for the year following the
community assessment.
During the three interim years,
the local health department will issue a State-of-the-County Report
that will provide updated information about priority health issues
specific to the county.
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