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Promising Practices

The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.

The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.

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Safe Routes to School (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of the Safe Routes to School program is to empower communities to make walking and bicycling to school a safe and routine activity.

Salem County School-to-Careers Initiative (Salem County, NJ)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program is to help at-risk youth and young adults to finish high school, take college-level classes, and have structured work experiences that will lead to successful transitions to adulthood.

San Diego County Breaking Cycles (San Diego County, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens

Goal: The goals of this program are to

- Prevent youth from becoming delinquent by focusing strengths-based, family-centered community resources and programs on "at-risk" youth and their families.
- Improve the juvenile justice and community intervention for juvenile offenders through a system of Graduated Sanctions (Intervention).

Smile for a Lifetime: Sonoma County (Sonoma County)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: S4L strives to create self-confidence and change the lives of underprivileged children by providing orthodontic services at no cost.

Supermarket Recycling Program (Massachusetts)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability

Goal: The goal of the Supermarket Recycling Program is to encourage supermarkets to develop programs to recycle and reuse organic waste and other materials.

Targeted Tuberculosis Screening in Tarrant County (Tarrant County, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent the spread of tuberculosis among the homeless population.

Tarrant County WIC/Library Plan (Tarrant County, TX)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Women

Goal: The goals of the Library plan are to promote early literacy, parent/child bonding, and breastfeeding education in the community.

Warren Village (Denver, CO)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Poverty, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to help motivated low-income single-parents move from public assistance to self-sufficiency through affordable housing, quality child care, counselling, education and training.

Washington DC One-Stop (Washington, DC)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: The goal of this program is to help move people from public assistance to employment.

Washington's WorkFirst Program (Washington)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Government Assistance

Goal: The goal of this program is to help individuals move toward self-sufficiency.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.

A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.