Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health
Population Health Research Brief Series
Building Back Healthier: The Role of Public Health in State Disaster Recovery Law
Claire Pendergrast, Nicole Errett
May 2021
When communities are impacted by disasters, state officials must implement efficient and competent recovery strategies with the health and wellbeing of residents in mind.
This research brief summarizes findings from a peer-reviewed study showing that few U.S. states explicitly integrate public health into their disaster recovery laws, and the types of public health requirements and authorizations vary substantially across states.