Rock County Public Health Policy Priorities, January 2025

We work with local partners to ensure health is represented in plans, programs, and policies. For example, we partnered with the City of Janesville to write the public health chapter in the 2023 City of Janesville Comprehensive Plan.

In partnership with the Rock County Board of Health, we utilize position statements to communicate evidence-based practices that can improve health throughout Rock County. Adopted position statements can be viewed below.

• Expedited Partner Therapy, February 2025

• "In recognition of the high burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) locally, the Rock County Board of Health recommends Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) as an effective, necessary service to reduce rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and reinfections in Rock County."

• If you’re a healthcare provider who is interested in learning more about EPT, please reach out here.

We use issue briefs to communicate the best available evidence on the policy implications of a public health issue. They provide an overview of a public health problem, rather than a specific policy. Published issue briefs can be viewed below.

• Access to Care Issue Brief, November 2024 - Ensuring Affordable and Quality Healthcare: A Collaborative Approach to Sustain Health Services in Rock County, WI

We track state-level policies to maintain an awareness of legislation that impacts our work and to engage policy through advocacy efforts. For individuals who are interested in monitoring proposed legislation, we recommend FastDemocracy, a free legislative bill tracking software.

Policy is a law, regulation, statute, administrative action, procedure, or formal practice that governments and institutions utilize to influence behaviors and enact change. Policies can be implemented at organizational, local, state, or federal levels.

• Organizational: Organizational policies include the internal policies of government agencies, schools, health care institutions, non-profits, businesses, or other private entities.

• Local: Local policies include local legislation, such as ordinances and budget appropriations; resolutions; executive orders issued by mayors or similar local officials; and policies issued by entities like local school boards, planning commissions, or boards of health.

• State: State policies include state-level legislation, such as statutes and budget appropriations; regulations implemented by state agencies; and executive orders issued by governors.

• Federal: Federal policies include federal-level legislation, such as statutes and budget appropriations; regulations implemented by federal agencies; and executive orders issued by the president. 

As a level III health department, as outlined in Wisconsin Administrative Code, we are required to develop, put in place, and advocate for policies that are intended to improve health outcomes. In addition to these expectations, we recognize policy as the most impactful tool for improving health because it changes the systems and environments that shape everyone’s health—not just individual behaviors. 

We participate in policy engagement through relationship-building, education, and advocacy, as captured in the following approaches:

• Build and sustain partnerships with residents, policymakers, and interested partners.

• Analyze public health challenges, identify possible policy solutions, and apply a Health in All Policies approach to ensure health is considered across sectors.

• Provide policy-related resources, outreach, and communications, such as issue briefs.

• Support policy implementation through education, technical assistance, and guidance.

Board of Health (BOH) members bring unique perspective, experience, and expertise that guides and informs our policy engagement work. BOH members participate in policy engagement through feedback, position statements, committee actions, and more.  

More information on the BOH, including current membership, can be found here.

Public health policy engagement is the process of effectively understanding and addressing public health topics when engaging with local, state, and federal policymakers, decision-makers, and partners. Here are some ways Rock County residents can participate in policy engagement:

• Receive FastDemocracy updates.

• Get connected to RCPH press releases, social media, and newsletters.

• Attend committee meetings, like the County Board or Board of Health.

• Provide public comment at committee meetings.

• Use MyVote Wisconsin to find your voter info, elected officials, polling place, and more.

• Join a coalition, like the Health Equity Alliance of Rock County (HEAR) or the Nutrition Collaborative of Rock County.

• Assess how policies in the spaces you live, work, and play can better promote health.