IPLAN

The Illinois Administrative Code requires local health departments (LHD) in Illinois to complete a community health needs assessment and health plan to fulfill the provisions for certification at least every five years.

History of IPLAN

In 1988, the Illinois public health community adopted the Public Health Charter for Illinois, establishing that the mission of public health in the state is to fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be health. Governmental public health agencies have a specific responsibility to ensure that a system is in place to allow the public health mission to be achieved. The Illinois Department of Public Health has taken a leadership role in redirecting the Illinois public health system to focus on achieving successful implementation of the core public health functions at the community level. These functions which follow the basic premise, we set forth in the Institute of Medicine's report, The Future of Public Health, and the Illinois Public Health Charter. They are assessment, policy development and assurance.

In addition to defining the public health mission and describing core functions, the Public Health Charter establishes several important principles, including the need for reform and restructuring of public health services in Illinois to improve our ability to achieve the public health mission. In this system, a certified LHD is a local governmental agency, which carries out the core functions of public health within its jurisdiction. The LHD leads its community in articulating and meeting the health needs of the population it serves. The development and assurance of public health programs that maintain or improve the health of the population, whether targeted to individuals or the entire community, is the responsibility of the LHD.

Core Functions of Public Health

The Illinois public health practice standards are organized around the three core functions of public health:

• ASSESSMENT. A LHD executes its assessment function through the identification of community health needs, the conduct of epidemiologic investigations, and the setting of health priorities. Performance standards and indicators of LHD effectiveness for the assessment function address each of these practice areas.
• POLICY DEVELOPMENT. A LHD executes its policy function through exercising leadership in the community by advocating for public health, building consistuencies, analyzing identified health needs and developing community action plans and policies based on those needs. Indicators of LHD effectiveness for the policy development function address each of these practice areas.
• ASSURANCE. A LHD executes its assurance function through managing its resources, delivering or assuring mandated programs, assuring that services are provided or available to meet priority health needs, implementing and evaluating programs, and informing and educating the public. Indicators of LHD effectiveness for the assurance function address these practice areas.