The Institute of Medicine’s 2012 report on public health financing called for the convening of expert panels to identify the components of a “minimum package” of public health services and cross-cutting capabilities that should be available in every U.S. community to protect and improve population health. This report also called for studies to identify the resources required to make these services universally available across the country. This research brief describes the research methodology in use to generate first-generation estimates of current resource use and estimated resource needs for implementing foundational public health services and capabilities.