Social Distancing Law Assessment Project

What to know

The President's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza in 2005 and the U.S. Homeland Security Council's related implementation plan in 2006 were the drivers for the Social Distancing Law Assessment Project. Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and directed by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the Social Distancing Law Assessment Project was conducted in 17 jurisdictions in 2007 and 9 additional jurisdictions in 2010 to assess the sufficiency of their legal preparedness to implement social distancing effectively.

Highlights

The Social Distancing Law Assessment Template

The Office of Public Health Law Services created a Social Distancing Law Assessment Template that includes:

  • A standardized template for assessing legal authorities
  • A hypothetical scenario and instructions for conducting a Legal Consultation Meeting
  • Examples of completed documents from the state of Michigan and the Commonwealth of Virginia

Social Distancing Law Assessment Template [DOC-3.9MB]

Social Distancing Law Assessment Template [PDF-4.5MB]

Selected Social Distancing Law Project documents from the state of Michigan:

Article: Karen Leeb, JD, MLS, Denise Chrysler, JD, and Richard Goodman, MD, JD, MPH, The Social Distancing Law Project Template: A Method for Jurisdictions to Assess Understanding of Relevant Legal Authorities, vol. 4/no. 1 American Medical Association pg74 (2010).

Disclaimer: Information available on this website that was not developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not necessarily represent any CDC policy, position, or endorsement of that information or of its sources. The information contained on this website is not legal advice; if you have questions about a specific law or its application you should consult your legal counsel.

Print
Content Source:
Public Health Infrastructure Center; Public Health Law