Carrie Waggoner

This article is one in a series produced through a partnership between the Network and the East Side Health and Well-being Collaborative in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Collaborative works with more than 20 local community organizations to advance coordinated initiatives that strengthen the health of their communities. As a member of the Collaborative, the Network provides training on the intersection between health, public health, and law and policy; and helps identify specific policies that support the Collaborative’s program goals.

Financial disparities exist in a multitude of areas including home ownership, credit scores, and access to banking services; and are linked to health disparities in maternal and child health, mental health, and substance use disorders. Community organizations can play a role in reducing these disparities by providing financial education and planning, increasing access to banking services, and providing help for those who find themselves in the grip of predatory lenders and payday loans.

In addressing questions regarding executive decision-making, we use the following general approach. Michigan’s Public Health Code grants public health officials considerable discretion to protect the public against communicable disease and environmental health threats. To exercise their broad grant of authority, the executive must ask three key questions: Can I? Must I? Should I?

Overview 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | July 12, 2021Jurisdiction IIS programs and attorneys are invited to learn about the legal agreements required for immunization…

Pride Month is a celebration by and among individuals and communities of sometimes-hard-won acceptance and affirmation of sexual orientation and gender identity, by and among individuals and communities. This month, Network attorneys highlight recent law and policy developments related to health equity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

In honor of Women's History Month, women in the Network’s Health Equity Working Group have highlighted legal or policy issues affecting women’s health that they see as critically important. The topics addressed cover: economic stability and well-being, pregnancy discrimination, period poverty, and maternal depression. The law and policy solutions discussed here have the potential to improve life for women and girls for generations to come.

Overview This resource provides a sample overview of a privacy complaint process. Documentation of this process is typically through a policy that includes definitions, citation…

Overview This resource provides sample language to both acknowledge receipt of a privacy complaint and to communicate the closure of a privacy complaint investigation.The examples…

Overview At times, members of the public may incorrectly direct privacy complaints to a particular program or agency. The following templates provide sample language for…

As the pandemic in the U.S. continues to worsen, many states are requiring additional disease mitigation measures. While many governors continue to utilize their executive authority under state emergency management laws to protect the public’s health, enforcement of public health orders at the state and local level has been a challenge across the country. One potential solution is for local jurisdictions to utilize civil infractions as an enforcement mechanism for public health orders through the enactment of ordinances.