997: CHW Funding Models, Public Health Job Applications

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, September 24, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

MARIA COUROGEN: 

The results were really clear, as they often are. Community health workers really improve health outcomes.

SILVERS: 

Community health workers, or CHWs, connect constituents with public health officials. In Washington State, they've worked to enable continued support of CHWs by developing a sustainable funding model. Maria Courogen is with the Washington State Department of Health and explains how they got the process started during the pandemic.

COUROGEN: 

So, we took our COVID dollars and we scaled up this infrastructure to a statewide infrastructure so that we could engage community-based organizations and their community health workers to help us continue to support communities.

SILVERS: 

Courogen says CHWs have had such a positive impact that the state legislature took action by requiring Medicaid to support community health workers as a part of the healthcare workforce, and as a result, the state was able to launch a pilot program expanding CHW services in pediatric primary care clinics.

COUROGEN: 

Help to address unmet needs and help now, in that particular pilot, helped families navigate care. So, this pilot led to a formal Medicaid State Plan Amendment, also known as a SPA, defining community health worker roles in clinical teams, establishing training standards, and enabling reimbursement.

SILVERS: 

She adds there are nuances to keep in mind when developing reimbursement models for CHWs.

COUROGEN: 

Like a community-based community health worker can spend weeks, months, building relationships, and they don't often get compensated for all that time to build trust, then they deliver the person to the healthcare delivery system, if that's what they need, and then the community health workers inside the clinic get the reimbursement.

SILVERS: 

As recent federal policy decisions start to go into effect, Courogen says the key will be to strengthen CHW infrastructure, not cut it down.

COUROGEN: 

Frequently, people will talk about like, well, if we're going to lose money and have to make reductions, those are the first ones to go, and actually like, having some folks out there who are trusted by community and can keep community connected to their benefits is going to be really, really important.

SILVERS: 

To learn more about the role community health workers play in health care and learn how your department can sustainably fund their work, you can visit ASTHO's CHW resource page. We'll have a link in the show notes.

HEATHER KRASNA 

There are differences between governmental applications and the private sector, in most cases.

SILVERS: 

It's Workforce Wednesday and ASTHO is helping with resources on securing government public health jobs. For job seekers who want to join a state and territorial health department, they need to plan and pay attention to the details. Here's Dr. Heather Krasna with Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

KRASNA 

Sometimes, instead of just submitting a resume, you might have to write essays, or you may even have to take a civil service exam. Sometimes exams are only offered once a year, once every couple of years, even.

SILVERS: 

To help applicants navigate the public health job search, ASTHO has developed a checklist for each stage of the process and gives tips to stay on track.

KRASNA 

For example, watching out for if there are exams, what's the exam schedule? Figuring out how you can stand out with your application by being specific, by using specific keywords from the job description in your materials, being thorough, making sure you're uploading any documents that might be needed when you're applying.

SILVERS: 

Although governmental public health applications often require more effort upfront, Krasner says the unique opportunities and benefits that come with these roles are invaluable.

KRASNA 

It's worth it to be open to these positions, to go for these positions, and you know, be patient. Sometimes the timing can be really a little longer than you might see in other sectors. So you know, don't give up on it. Apply for those opportunities. Make your best effort.

SILVERS: 

You can access ASTHO's guide to navigating the governmental public health job search process. Just head to the link in the show notes.

On deck today is the third session of ASTHO's Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab Series at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Shirley Orr, who is the executive director for the Association of Public Health Nurses will lead the workshop focused on public health nursing residency programs and leadership pathways. The next session is also coming up on October 22. That one will take a closer look at how you can leverage partnerships to strengthen the public health nursing workforce. The link to attend both is in the show notes.

And finally, in ASTHO member news, tomorrow, Thursday, September 25, ASTHO president-elect, Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and ASTHO alum, Dr. Umair Shah, will participate on a panel at Health Systems Implementing Climate Action, which is a Climate Week NYC 2025 event. If you're in New York, you won't want to miss their panel: State Scorecard on Health Systems, Climate Vulnerability, and Performance. You can find more information about that event in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.