Taking Action with Data: Using Environmental Public Health Tracking Data to Improve Environmental Health in a Community

The Taking Action with Data funding opportunity is sponsored by the Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Wisconsin Tracking). Wisconsin Tracking is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

This is the 11th year of Taking Action with Data: Using Environmental Public Health Tracking Data to Improve Environmental Health in a Community. The intent of this funding opportunity is to help agencies develop new, innovative, or enhanced projects to improve environmental public health in their communities. This funding is not intended to provide financial support to an existing or previous project if there are no plans to enhance or expand the project. Please see the Eligibility Information section to determine if your agency is eligible for this award.

Through this grant opportunity, applicants must use Wisconsin Tracking data to identify and address environmental health concerns in their jurisdictions. The most current data are available on the County Environmental Health Profiles or the Wisconsin Tracking Environmental Health Data Dashboards. You may also use data from the Private Well Groundwater Quality Viewer, the Wisconsin Interactive Radon Map, or the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Data Explorer.

Grantees will develop and implement local initiatives related to environmental health in their communities based on their chosen topic. Additional information on selecting a topic can be found in Appendix A: Environmental Topic Choices (PDF).

We will share methods, strategies, tools, and lessons learned from this grant process with other local public health agencies and federally recognized Tribal nations in Wisconsin and with the CDC. The overall goal is to improve environmental public health in Wisconsin.

Health agencies for cities, counties, federally recognized Tribal nations, or multi-jurisdictional entities who plan to apply for grant funding for the Taking Action with Data project should use this RFA to assist in preparing and submitting their applications. The anticipated effective date of contracts awarded under this funding opportunity is August 3, 2026.

Wisconsin Tracking is a program in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health. Our team has worked to compile and improve access to environmental public health data on Wisconsin communities since 2002. During the past 24 years, we have been building, sustaining, and enhancing access to environmental health data; providing training and technical assistance to target audiences; and developing resources intended to improve environmental public health in communities.

We maintain a cooperative agreement with the CDC to sustain and enhance the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network in Wisconsin. One component of our cooperative agreement with CDC is to identify and document public health actions highlighting the use of the Wisconsin Tracking Environmental Health Data Dashboards, resources, and technical assistance.

Since the inception of the program, we have created and maintained Wisconsin County Environmental Health Profiles (Profiles). The Profiles, visualized through a dashboard, offer a county-level snapshot of environmental health data available on our Data Dashboards. Communities use the Profiles to target education, programming, and policies to address environmental health needs.

Wisconsin Tracking also maintains free, interactive Wisconsin Tracking Environmental Health Data that house data found in the Profiles, as well as additional data on environmental health-related topics. Access the Profiles and the Data Dashboards through our Wisconsin Tracking website.

The objective of this grant is to support the development and implementation of environmental public health improvement initiatives in local public health agencies and federally recognized Tribal nations. We use this project to:

1. Promote use of the Wisconsin Tracking Data Dashboards and Profiles as resources for:
   1. Understanding the current status of environmental health issues in a community,
   2. Exploring areas for improvement, and
   3. Proposing, developing, and implementing projects or programs to address an environmental health-related issue of interest
2. Share public health actions, materials, and resources with other local public health agencies, federally recognized Tribal nations, and the CDC. Methods, tools, and lessons learned are intended to be disseminated to stakeholders and customized by other communities. Examples of past mini-grant projects leading to public health actions can be found on our Publications and Resources webpage, under Success Stories.

We expect successful applicants to do the following during the grant period:

1. Use and reference the Wisconsin County Environmental Health Profiles and/or the Wisconsin Tracking Environmental Health Data dashboards in project planning, periodic evaluations, and reporting. For more information, see Appendix A: Environmental Topic Choices (PDF).
2. Develop new partnerships or strengthen existing partnerships by engaging internal and external stakeholders in implementation of the project.
3. Develop or increase capacity to provide outreach and leadership within the community.
4. Participate in discussions with Wisconsin Tracking staff regarding work plan, performance monitoring, timeline, partnerships, and budget.
5. Participate in at least three conference calls with Wisconsin Tracking staff to discuss progress.
6. Collaborate with Wisconsin Tracking staff to develop two short, written reports:
   1. Mid-project update (approximately one page) by Friday, January 29, 2027. This update should document progress toward meeting objectives of the work plan and any barriers the grantee is encountering. We will provide guidance and a template for the mid-project update in December 2026.
   2. Final report (approximately three pages) by Monday, August 16, 2027. This final report should include results and outcomes from implementation of the work plan, lessons learned, barriers encountered, and presentations provided on this project (see # 10 below). In addition, grantees can provide feedback to Wisconsin Tracking such as strengths and limitations of the project, and suggestions for process improvement. We will provide guidance and a template for the final report in June 2027.
7. Document public health actions that result from the project and report them to our team. Examples may include (but are not limited to): developed local policy change; created new community partnership or coalition; increased availability of services; and developed a new program to address a community need. For ideas about taking action, see our Ideas for Taking Action resources. We will offer additional guidance on public health actions to awarded grantees during the kick-off conference call and throughout the project period.
8. Periodically monitor the project. Additional information about performance monitoring is in Appendix B: Guidance for Developing Project Work Plan and Performance Measurement Section (PDF).
9. Disseminate relevant results and outcomes that result from implementation of the project (e.g., via listserv, newsletter, presentations at conferences, journal articles, social and earned media, webinars).
10. Present on the project at a community meeting, conference, or other event (e.g., Wisconsin Public Health Association conference, Wisconsin Tracking’s Technical Advisory Group, Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards [WALHDAB] meeting, local health board, webinar).

Wisconsin Tracking staff are available throughout the project period to provide technical assistance to grantees. This technical assistance includes performance monitoring guidance (e.g., strengthening data collection methods, creating surveys, analyzing data), drafting and documenting public health actions, assisting with specific data requests or analyses, developing or reviewing fact sheets and other resources, and making connections with new partners. We can provide assistance by phone, e-mail, or we can visit you on-site as mutually agreed upon.

To abide by State of Wisconsin procurement regulations and ensure the application process is fair and equitable for all applicants, we will not directly respond to questions from applicants (via phone or email) but instead will provide public responses to all questions received.

Agencies may electronically submit questions about this RFA to DHSTracking@wi.gov until Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at noon CDT. Indicate in the subject “Question on Taking Action with Data Mini-grant RFA.” We will post all questions and responses regarding the RFA on Friday, May 29, 2026 to this page.

We do not require a letter of intent for this grant application. Instead, we request that you respond to a short survey of intent by Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 3:30 pm (CDT). The survey of intent will collect the following information:

• Intent to submit an application for the 2026-2027 funding opportunity
• Environmental health topic area (if known)
• Name, email address, and name of local or Tribal health department
• How you learned about the funding opportunity

The survey of intent is not required but strongly encouraged to help us estimate the number of applications we will receive and arrange for an adequate number of reviewers. Your agency is still able to apply even if you do not complete this survey. Additionally, your answers to the survey will not affect your chances of being funded. Respondents to this survey will be emailed the questions and answers posted to this page.

Applications must be submitted using the Application Form (Word), which includes tables for the work plan and budget. In your submission, please provide the information described below in the Application Content section. The completed Application Form should not be longer than eight pages. Please do not change the margins or font size in the Application Form.

Appendices may be included with the Application Form and are not included in the total page count, but they must not include primary components of the application form. Additional information on appendices can be found on in the Resources section.

The completed application form should be no longer than eight pages. Applications that exceed eight pages will not be reviewed beyond the eight pages. For example, if the application is nine pages long and the ninth page is the budget, the budget would not be reviewed and would receive zero points.

Wisconsin Tracking must receive applications by Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 3:30 pm CDT. Applications submitted via email must be time stamped as 3:30 pm CDT on June 24 or earlier. Late applications will not be accepted or reviewed.

Each section of the proposal is worth a certain number of points (totaling 100 points). Point values for each section are indicated in the Application Content section. Applicant Information and Overview sections are not scored. All reviewers use the same scoring rubric to score applications, which can be found in Appendix C: Scoring Rubric (PDF).

Provide the following:

• Agency name and address
• Name, phone number, and email address of the project lead

Provide the following:

• Name of Project
• Project Topic (see Appendix A: Environmental Topic Choices (PDF) for list of options)
• Brief Overview of Project (3-5 sentences)

• What jurisdiction and/or target population(s) will the project cover?
  • For example, will it cover an entire county or a specific area/city? Is the target population people of all ages or specific age groups? Is it targeting urban or rural areas?
• What is the burden of the selected environmental issue in your jurisdiction (using the Wisconsin Tracking Environmental Health Data, the Wisconsin County Environmental Health Profiles, Private Well Groundwater Quality Viewer, Wisconsin Interactive Radon Map, or Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Data Explorer)?
• Explain why this issue needs to be addressed.
  • For example, is the county rate is much higher than the state rate? Is there a higher percentage of at-risk population?
• Describe how health equity will be considered in this project.
  • For example, census tracts with higher proportions of low-income families will be focus of intervention, materials will be written at an appropriate literacy level and translated if applicable, partnerships with relevant community groups will be developed, etc.
  • Note: Consider using one or more of the following Tracking data topics to strengthen your considerations of health equity: Community Characteristics, Community Design, Environmental Justice, or Populations and Vulnerabilities. You may also want to explore other sources of health disparity data at your jurisdiction level to supplement health equity considerations.

Provide a detailed description of the project in no more than one page.

• For example: What are you doing for your project and how will you carry it out? Is this a completely new project or an enhancement of an existing project? What do you plan to do to address the burden and need? What specific actions and/or analyses are included in the project and how will they be carried out? What strategies will be used to address the identified environmental health topic? If this is an expansion of a current project, what are the innovative or enhanced components that will be addressed with this grant?

• Describe the role that collaborating partners (both existing and new) will play in the project. Include details on partner engagement, participation, and responsibilities.
• Note: Letters of support are required from collaborating partners. Letters of support should not be generic but should instead clearly indicate the role(s) and buy-in of partners involved in the project.

Include all the following items in the template table in the Application Form (Word).

• Goals and objectives (15 points): List project goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve and what strategies will you use to get there? Make sure objectives are SMART (PDF) (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-phased). You may insert rows to add objectives and goals, as long as your application remains within the 8-page limit.
• Performance measures (10 points): Include at least two performance measures for each of your objectives. Performance measures help you monitor and track progress of your objectives. Explain how you will gather information and data for your performance measures. Include information on which data source(s) you will use, frequency of collecting data (e.g., once, monthly, etc.), who will collect data, and how data will be analyzed and reported out.
• Activities (15 points): List activities specific to each objective and provide enough detail to describe the activity.
• Persons(s) responsible (5 points): Indicate the person(s) responsible for activities. This can be health department staff, contracted staff, and/or other partners.
• Timeline (5 points): For each activity, provide an approximate—but specific—timeline based on your proposed project. We recommend using month(s) and year that the activity will take place. Avoid using the end of the grant period (“July 2027”) for all activities.
• Notes (not scored): The optional notes column is an opportunity to provide additional information on your project workplan and performance measures if desired.

Provide the name, phone number, and email address of the fiscal agent representative. The following information should be included in the Budget template table in the application:

• Name, position, and/or title of personnel involved
• Amount of effort on project expressed in FTE; please include in-kind hours, if applicable
• Other expenses that may apply to the completion of this project (e.g., meeting space rentals, materials for stakeholder meetings, supplies, and travel expenses)

Applicants who have not previously been awarded funding in the first ten years of this project (2015-2026) will be awarded 15 additional points during scoring. Applicants that are Wisconsin federally recognized Tribal nations will be awarded 15 additional points during scoring.

Appendices are accepted and will not be included in total page count. Letters of support are required from collaborating partners, and additional letters of support are welcomed. Appendices might include additional data from jurisdiction, letters of support, Community Health Assessments, maps, or other supporting materials. Appendices should not include primary components of the application form (i.e., burden and need, project description, partners and stakeholder engagement, work plan and performance measurement, or budget).

Proposals will be rated on the following criteria and will be scored using Appendix C: Scoring Rubric (PDF):

• The information in Appendix A: Environmental Topic Choices (PDF) was taken into consideration when identifying the environmental health issue in the proposal
• Jurisdiction and/or target population(s) clearly identified and described, with careful consideration of health equity
• Clear identification of the burden of the selected environmental health issue in applicant’s jurisdiction
• Statement of need is clearly developed and communicated
• Project description is clear, well-defined, realistic, and achievable and presented with some details
• Project goals and objectives are well-crafted, SMART (PDF), and define success
• At least two performance measures are included for each objective; performance measures are clear and can adequately measure progress and success
• Additional information is provided on how data for performance measures will be collected (e.g., source(s), frequency, analysis, and reporting out)
• Activities in the work plan are well thought out and align appropriately with objectives
• Staff responsible are indicated and timeline is included and correctly assessed
• Identified partners and stakeholders are appropriate and will strengthen the project; roles and involvement of partners are clearly presented, and engagement is evident
• Letters of support are included from collaborating partners and must be specific on role(s) and buy-in of partner in the project
• Funds are appropriately allocated in the budget and fit with scope of work described in proposal