This guide was developed to assist states in addressing the national workforce development objectives for the health professions and for employees of public health agencies in order to achieve the National Healthy People 2010 workforce objectives. The guide is organized in four sections. The opening section is a "how to" resource for planners. It provides seven strategy options for including workforce objectives in state Healthy People or other health plans. Two following sections focus on these three national Healthy People 2010 workforce objectives: (1) increasing the members of under-represented racial and ethnic groups in the health professions; (2) increasing the proportion of government agencies that incorporate specific competencies in the essential public health services into personnel systems; and (3) increasing the proportion of government health agencies that provide continuing education to develop competency in essential public health services for their employees. Each section on specific workforce objectives includes an issue summary, a strategy summary, examples of strategy implementation, and resources. The final section of the document provides a listing of all the Healthy People 2010 workforce-related objectives. Appendixes include a bibliography of articles and resources for increasing minority representation in the health professions and for continuing education in public health. A list of core public health competencies is included. (KC)