Overall purpose of the project: Community health workers, promotoras, and community health
representatives (hereafter collectively referred to as CHWs) are essential to the COVID-19
response and long-term health equity for the communities they serve. Policymakers, including
Congress and President Joe Biden, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Health Services and Resources Administration, and state health departments, among others,
have called for increased investment in this workforce. Local, state, and federal stakeholders,
including payers, policymakers, and government officials, need a way to ensure that increased
investment translates into effective CHW programs, and that CHWs are supported in their work.
In 2020, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), in partnership with the Penn
Center for Community Health Workers (PCCHW), set out to develop standards for recruiting,
employing, and supervising CHWs that would support sustainable payment approaches for
organizations that employ and partner with CHWs. This paper summarizes the work completed,
describes organizational elements that can support the CHW workforce, and identifies important
considerations needed for future development of standards.
