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Social Distancing Law Assessment
Template
Background
In the fall of 2005, the President released the
National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, which was followed in 2006 by
the detailed National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation
Plan from the U.S. Homeland Security Council (HSC). The HSC
Implementation Plan assigned tasks across the federal government to
improve pandemic influenza preparedness. Nearly 200 of these action
items were assigned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS).
The HSC Implementation Plan acknowledged the important role
social distancing measures will play in helping to reduce the impact of
pandemic influenza and, also, the need for governments at all levels to
assess their legal capacity to flexibly respond to shifting
circumstances during a pandemic. The action items assigned to CDC
stimulated creation and implementation of the Social Distancing Law
Project. Generally, Chapter 6 of the HSC Implementation Plan, which
dealt with the protection of human health, called for providing guidance
to all levels of government “…on the range of options for infection
control and containment, including those circumstances where social
distancing measures, limitations on gatherings, or quarantine authority
may be an appropriate public health intervention.”
As part of its plan
to address these action items, HHS asked CDC to evaluate the sufficiency and understanding
of states’ existing legal authorities to implement such social
distancing measures as suspension of public gatherings, quarantine, and
curfew, among other limits on movement, as well as their legal authority
to dispense antiviral and other prescription drugs on a mass or
community-wide basis.
The Social Distancing Law Project
Sponsored by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and directed by
the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the
Social Distancing Law Project was conducted in 17 jurisdictions in 2007
to assess the sufficiency of their legal preparedness to implement
social distancing effectively. In addition, the participating
jurisdictions assessed their legal authority to prescribe and dispense
pharmaceutical drugs on a mass basis as a key potential countermeasure
for an influenza pandemic.
As implemented in 2007, the Social Distancing
Law Project had two primary components, as specified by CDC and ASTHO:
The Public Health Law Program subsequently created a Social Distancing
Law Assessment Template (SDLAT) for use by other interested
jurisdictions. The Template includes the template for assessing legal
authorities, a hypothetical scenario and instructions for conducting a
Legal Consultation Meeting, and examples of completed documents from the
state of Michigan.
Social Distancing Law Assessment Template
- Legal Assessments
- Legal Consultation Meetings and After-Action Reports
Selected Social Distancing Law Project documents from the state of Michigan:
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