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.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Urban
1) Increase capacity of adults to respond to behavioral health issues of adolescents
2) Increase the mental health literacy of youth-interacting adults
3) Link adolescents with behavioral health issues to mental, emotional, and behavioral health assistance and services
4) Increase the number of collaborative partnerships with youth- serving community agencies/programs
5) Conduct outreach and engagement strategies with adolescents and their families/caregivers to increase awareness of and promote positive behavioral health
Collaboration and partnerships can help drive awareness of mental health issues and training adolescents in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) can help spread awareness of mental health resources and referrals to professionals.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women
The goal of this program is to provide routine cancer screenings to the underserved population of incarcerated women in Indiana.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Educational Attainment, Children
The purpose of the Interlocal Association's (IA) Youth with Disabilities Project was to support demonstration projects to help Workforce Investment Act (WIA)-assisted youth programs develop the capacity to serve youth with disabilities. Although youth with disabilities had been served under previous employment and training programs during the latter years of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), with the implementation of WIA, services such as work experience, summer employment, and others decreased substantially. IA looked to expand and enhance the quality of services to youth with disabilities.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Families
Healthy Kids plans to enroll all uninsured children who are not eligible for Medi-Cal and who are residents of Sonoma County in the health care and insurance program.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment
The mission of the program is to work vigorously to free participants from the burden of welfare dependency, and achieve a better, happier lifestyle through self-sufficiency. It will serve the taxpayers of Riverside County by reducing welfare dependency, thus making tax dollars available for other expenditures and needs.
The program produced a large net savings to the government through increased tax revenues and reduced welfare and food stamps payments (as an estimate, $2.84 saved for every $1.00 invested over five years).
Home Again: A Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County (Portland and Multnomah County, OR)
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban
The goal of this program is to end homelessness in the City of Portland and Multnomah County by 2015. As efforts to end homelessness continue, city and county officials will focus on nine actions. Programs throughout the county will address moving people into Housing First, ending the practice of discharging people into homelessness from jails and hospitals, improving outreach, emphasizing permanent solutions, increasing the housing supply, creating new partnerships, improving the rent assistance system, increasing economic opportunity for homeless people and implementing new data collection technology.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children
The goal of the King County Asthma Forum is to improve asthma outcomes among low-income children.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Urban
The goal of these projects was to find ways to maximize energy conservation and efficiency through measures with a quick payback period.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health
The initiative’s goal is to reduce infant sleep-related deaths by promoting safe sleep environments and SIDS risk reduction techniques among healthcare professionals, childcare providers, and all individuals responsible for caring for infants.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Urban
The goal of Prime Time Palm Beach County is to improve the quality of school-age afterschool programs through assessment, guidance, and support.
Based on the 2009 study findings, Prime Time's Quality Improvement System resulted in improvements made to afterschool programs which enhanced quality programming and important developmental learning experiences for youth.