September marks a historic month for strengthening the community health worker workforce in Massachusetts. One of of the priorities of the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers (MACHW) since December 2008 has been to advocate for the creation of a CHW board of certification, and we succeeded. This month Governor Patrick signed the bill into law! This success has helped CHWs in Massachusetts take the next step to strengthen our professional identity, foster leadership among CHWs, and promote the integration of CHWs into health care and public health services.

What does this law mean to CHWs in Massachusetts?

• This law creates the board of certification structure starting in 2012. Most of the details of what certification could look like and its benefits will be shaped by input from CHWs and stakeholders.
• In a few years CHWs have the choice to apply to be a "certified community health worker."

What's next? 

• The first group discussion about the new law occurred at MACHW's 4th Annual Meeting on Sept. 16, 2010. More than 130 MACHW members drafted questions about the law and brainstormed the process for moving forward.
• Bill signing celebrations over the next month across the commonwealth.
• Regional dialogues throughout the next year to draft the blueprint for certification.

Key Factsheets:

• ·         Timeline of bill advocacy
• ·         Factsheet about new law

•     Language of new CHW Law

For more information, visit: http://machw.org/stpolicy.html.