What Is STAR?

STAR (STate Activation and Response) is designed to assess a Chronic Disease Unit’s organizational capacity; identify opportunities for increasing organizational capacity; and engage states in a process that includes participation in a one-day workshop to develop a short-term (100 days to six months) action plan for achieving increased organizational capacity.

STAR Framework components, called spokes, are the following:

• Partnerships and Relationships
• Workforce Development 
• Leadership 
• Management and Administration
• Organizational Climate and Culture
• Evidenced-Based Public Health Practice

Expectations for states participating in STAR include:

• Completing the STAR pre-assessment
• Participating in two or more planning calls prior to the STAR workshop
• Participating in a one-day STAR workshop to develop a short-term action plan to support improving organizational capacity and in a 1.5-hour STAR workshop debrief meeting
• Implementing the short-term action plan to support improving organizational capacity
• Participating in monthly one-on-one implementation support calls with NACDD for 100 days to six months following the STAR workshop
• Participating in monthly peer video conference calls with STAR peers over 24 months. This peer-to-peer component among states working through the same process facilitates cross sharing and learning about organizational capability and develops successful strategies for increasing capacity.
• Participating in follow-up evaluations at six months and at one year, which includes the Chronic Disease Director’s participation in a semi-structured interview at least six months after the workshop and completion of the STAR re-assessment at least one year after the workshop

Here are a few quotes from STAR states that describe their experiences:

“In all my years of public health work, I have never been part of a process that has given my staff so much energy to continue to improve. STAR was a great return on investment for our team.” (Bruce Adkins, Director, Office of Community Health Systems and Health Promotion, West Virginia Bureau for Public Health)

STAR:

“…opened doors to go down different paths and address issues we knew were underneath the surface. It gave us a reason to address those issues.”

“…helped us focus in places that we wouldn’t have gone and accelerated where we were already going.”

View Map of STAR State Participation

How Can States Join STAR?

The application process for the STAR 2020 cohort began fall 2019. To learn more about STAR and how it can help your state, please contact phlp@chronicdisease.org