NACCHO has conducted the National Profile of Local Health Departments (Profile), a census of all local health departments ( LHDs) in the US, periodically since 1989 (most recently in 2010). Each Profile survey has collected data on the total staffing at LHDs, and Profile surveys starting in 2005 collected data on the FTEs of staff in selected occupational categories and on race and ethnicity of LHD staff. The 2008 Profile study estimated the total size of the LHD workforce at 155,000 FTEs, and identified clerical staff, public health nurses, environmental health specialists and scientists, and managers/directors as the predominant occupations in the LHD workforce. This presentation will illustrate how data from the Profile study can be used to examine trends over time in LHD staffing.

Though primarily an organizational-level study, the Profile survey also demonstrates how individual-level data on public health workers might be collected. Each Profile study has collected data on characteristics of LHD top executives, including race, ethnicity, gender, education, age, and job tenure. Data on additional characteristics (such as previous employment) have been collected in Profile modules, which are administered to a statistical sample of LHDs. This presentation will use data on top executive characteristics to illustrate the career paths of LHD top executives.

LEARNING AREAS: Administration, management, leadership

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Describe how NACCHO’s Profile survey contributes to enumeration of the public health workforce. Identify key occupations in the LHD workforce and trends over time in employment for those occupations. Describe common career pathways for LHD top executives.