Social Distancing Law Assessment Project

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.

The Social Distancing Law Assessment Template

The Public Health Law Program 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

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

• Final MI Legal Assessment [DOC-245KB]
• Final MI Legal Assessment [PDF-366KB]
• Final Bulleted Scenario Legal Consultation Meeting for Participants [DOC-64KB]
• Final Bulleted Scenario Legal Consultation Meeting for Participants [PDF-44KB]
• Social Distancing Law Project After Action Report [DOC-68KB]
• Social Distancing Law Project After Action Report [PDF-126KB]
• Web Resources [DOC-29KB]
• Web Resources [PDF-58KB]
• Memo: Disclosure of Protected Health Information [PDF-100KB]
• Summary of Authority and Actions [PDF-70KB]
• Authority and Actions of Health Officers [PDF-202KB]
• Pandemic Preparedness Legal Consultation Workshop [PPT-798KB]
• Pandemic Preparedness Legal Consultation Workshop [PDF-885KB]
• Surveillance and Response to Imported Infectious Disease [PPT-564KB]
• Surveillance and Response to Imported Infectious Disease [PDF-582KB]
• Legal Consultation Meeting Tabletop Exercise [PPT-2.4MB]
• Legal Consultation Meeting Tabletop Exercise [PDF-3.7MB]

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 [DOC-3.9MB], vol. 4/no. 1 American Medical Association pg74 (2010).