Workforce

Understanding the resource needs, funding demands, and work climate of the environmental health community is paramount to our mission. We partner with universities, local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal environmental health organizations to gather data and facilitate actions to address issues impacting the environmental health workforce.

Achieving Environmental Health Equity: The Need and Opportunities for Public Health Action Brief

This resource provides the background, data, and actionable steps environmental health leaders can take address systemic inequities and environmental health disparities to improve health in their community. Actions are organized by the 10 Essential Services and provided in short form visuals as an easy reference.

View Resource

UNCOVER EH

We partnered with the CDC and Baylor University on this initiative to identify and describe key governmental environmental health workforce and practice elements. The initiative provides an understanding of the environmental health profession and helps inform environmental health workforce development initiatives, improve the practice, and establish uniform benchmarks and professional competencies.

UNCOVER EH ArticleCDC UNCOVER EH Initiative

Environmental Health Workforce Act

We support the Environmental Health Workforce Act. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out certain activities related to the environmental health workforce and reporting on state-based practices for training and credentialing environmental health workers. The bill also specifies that environmental-health workers are eligible for public-service loan forgiveness.

Legislative ActionsWorkforce Resources

COVID-19 Environmental Health Workforce Needs Assessment Report

In 2020, we fielded a nationwide environmental health workforce needs assessment in response to COVID-19. Initial findings told us that environmental health practitioners, many of whom are employed at small local agencies, are actively supporting COVID-19 response and recovery. Their contributions are felt in safely reopening and restoring the economy, emergency operation centers, contact tracing, and communications efforts, in addition to their customary responsibilities. Based on these findings, we recommend environmental health staff be included early as active and meaningful participants in formulating plans to vaccinate the public. Read the full report to see more of our findings and our full recommendations.

Workforce Report October 2020Workforce Report April 2020

Community Health Assessment for Public Health Accreditation Toolkit

This Inter Tribal Council of Arizona resource provides support for tribal leaders, health professionals, and community members in the planning and implementation of Community Health Accreditations. | Toolkit

A Decade of Tribal Environmental Health Research: Results and Impacts from EPA's Extramural Grants and Fellowship Programs

This report discusses outcomes and results of Tribal Environmental Health research from EPA funded grants.

After more than a decade of funding research addressing the unique needs of AI/AN communities, EPA's Tribal Environmental Health Research Program and other Agency tribal research has yielded data, tools, products, methods and knowledge. These help to:

  • better define and reduce the health risks of tribal populations,
  • protect natural resources essential to cultural and spiritual practices, and
  • encourage ecological knowledge and tribal practices of protecting and preserving the earth for future generations.

Environmental Health Toolkit – Strengthening Environmental Health Programs and Services in your Tribal Community

The Indian Health Service (IHS) Division of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) has developed this Toolkitin order to improve the services provided by IHS and to assist tribes in developing and implementing environmental health programs. The goal of this Toolkit is to provide a set of resources for helping Tribe's assess and strengthen their Environmental Health programs and services in order to support a comprehensive, integrated approach to environmental health. The second goal of this Toolkit is to clearly identify the operational standards for a governmental environmental health system and support tribes in achieving them.

Learn More