Our work
This is a national coalition led by CHWs and built alongside allies. The Coalition organizes CHW power and aligns state and national policy strategies, ensuring CHWs can shape and influence the policies, funding and rules that affect the profession.
Federal policy windows will be narrow in the near term, but they will come. By building power across states and aligning around a shared vision now, the field will be ready to act with coordination, clarity and strength.
Federal advocacy and policymaker education
We coordinate national campaigns to educate members of Congress and their staff, build bipartisan support, and make sure CHWs are at the table when federal decisions are made. Our 2026 priorities have included:
Funding CDC CHW grant programs. The Affordable Care Act created a CDC grant program dedicated to CHWs in 2010, and Congress updated it in 2022 with a recommended $50 million. But Congress has never appropriated the money, so the program has $0 to award. We’re pushing Congress to fund it for FY27, and strategizing for bipartisan support to reauthorize and appropriate for FY28.
The National CHW Awareness Week Resolution (H.Res. 1187 and S.Res. 906). Written by and for CHWs, this resolution recognizes CHWs’ contributions and defines who they are and the roles they play. We use it each year to build a base of congressional champions, growing support from 6 sponsors and cosponsors in 2023 to 21 in 2025, with the goal of strong bipartisan support in 2026. Read the Senate announcement →
The Community Health Worker Access Act. Reintroduced in September 2026, this bill would build Medicare coverage for CHW services and encourage states to cover them through Medicaid. We’re strategizing to position for serious bipartisan reintroduction in the next Congress.
The Coalition is nonpartisan. CHWs serve every community, and support for CHWs crosses party lines.
State policy and cross-state learning
Every state’s CHW policy landscape is different, and the most important decisions about how CHWs are recognized and paid are often made at the state level. We help state CHW leaders see where their state stands, learn from one another, and act together.
Mapping the landscape. We’re building a national CHW policy and power map. It brings together each state’s policy and financing landscape, data on its CHW workforce, and a picture of who is organized and leading advocacy. The map builds on existing national analyses and is checked against what CHW leaders see on the ground, so advocates can benchmark progress, spot gaps, and learn what’s working elsewhere. The first release is planned for early 2027.
Cross-state strategy and learning. Using what the map shows, we’ll bring states facing similar challenges together in peer cohorts, so they can share strategies, get tailored support, and act together on shared threats like Medicaid cuts and shared opportunities like the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Informing state policymakers. We work with partners who work directly with state officials [NASHP, NACHC and others] to help state leaders understand the CHW workforce, what effective CHW policy and financing look like, and how CHWs can help states get the most from new investments.
CHW organizing and power-building
CHWs know their communities and their profession best, so they should be the ones shaping the policies that affect them. The Coalition is its members: CHWs, CHW networks, and allies who bring their voices, relationships and leadership to advocacy for the workforce. There’s a place for everyone, whether you have five minutes or want to lead.
Monthly national meetings where members across the country, including frontline CHWs, CHW associations, health systems and community organizations, track legislative updates that affect the workforce, set strategy, take collective action, learn from each other’s wins and invite policymakers to engage directly with CHWs. As we grow, we’re exploring smaller working groups where members can go deeper on parts of our strategy.
Strong state CHW networks leading advocacy in their own states, with shared training, tools and coordination across the Coalition so networks can mobilize their members around federal and state priorities.
Relationships with decision-makers. Many members already have relationships with members of Congress, federal agencies and state Medicaid officials. Together, we build and connect those relationships so offices know CHWs and turn to them when shaping policy. Members help each other prepare for meetings, make clear asks, and follow up, back home and in DC, including our next CHW Hill Day in Spring 2027, building on Hill Days from 2023 to 2025.
Spreading the word, building the movement. Members share action opportunities and policy updates with their networks, so every action reaches further.