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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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Kansas City Gun Experiment (Kansas City, MO)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program was to reduce gun crime in Kansas City.

Kids Walk-to-School Day (Washington)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the KidsWalk-to-School program is to encourage physical activity as an integral part of a child’s daily routine, promote the development of safe walking and bicycling routes, and teach safe pedestrian practices to potentially reduce injury among children.

King County (KC) Kids Oral Health Program (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of the KC Kids Oral Health Program was to provide no-cost dental services to children who lived between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level.

King County Children's Health Initiative (King County, WA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of the Children's Health Initiative is to provide children with consistent access to health care services.

Latino Education and Prevention Initiative (Clark County, NV)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of this program is to increase awareness about the hazards of secondhand smoke within the adult Hispanic/Latino community using a culturally and linguistically appropriate intervention.

Linking Education, Activity, and Food (LEAF): Fiscal Impact Report (California)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the study was to conduct a multi-component, cross-site evaluation of California's LEAF program. The report analyzes the fiscal impacts experienced by the 16 LEAF schools as a result of the implementation of SB 19/56.

Linking Inmates with Needed Care (LINC) (Florida)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the LINC program is to provide health education and care to prison inmates while they are incarcerated and following their release.

Lions-Quest Working Toward Peace

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of the Lions Quest Working Toward Peace program is to teach anger management and conflict resolution skills to adolescents.

Maine Juvenile Drug Treatment Court (Maine)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the quality of juvenile justice in Maine through timely and effective substance abuse, social services, and juvenile justice interventions.

Matching Volunteer Mentors with Adults Working towards Self-Sufficiency (Amarillo, TX)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Poverty, Adults

Goal: The goal of the program is to help people living in poverty to become self-sufficient by working toward short and long term goals of self-improvement.

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.