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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.

Practices that were submitted by local partners are listed first and will have a green box below them that indicates they are local. Users can also use the search features to find promising practices from across the country.

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San Francisco SafeStart Initiative (San Francisco, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of the SafeStart Initiative is to reduce the incidence and impact of violence on children ages 6 and under.

San Francisco Unified School District Healthy Food Policy (San Francisco)

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

Goal: SFUSD aimed to provide students with healthy and appealing food choices and to diminish the dependence of schools and school-related organizations on selling unhealthy foods.

San Francisco Working Families Credit (San Francisco)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Government Assistance, Families, Urban

Goal: The WFC has three primary objectives:
-increasing the federal EITC take-up rate;
-promoting asset-building; and
-retaining families in San Francisco.

Santa Barbara Car Free Project (Santa Barbara)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Teens, Adults, Families, Urban

Goal: The project's mission is to encourage car free, carefree travel to and around Santa Barbara for cleaner air and a healthier planet.

Santa Clarita Adult Day Health Care Center (Santa Clarita, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Adults

Goal: The ongoing goals of the ADHC include maintaining functional independence and preventing premature institutionalization while providing respite and a support system for caregivers and providing a therapeutic environment involving; physical , occupational, speech, recreation, psycho-social and creative arts therapy to increase the quality of life for participants.

Save Money and the Environment Too (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: Through regional media campaigns BayROC promotes personal action and behavior change to reduce waste.

SCARE Program

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: This program's primary goals are to teach young people about emotions, including anger and aggression, and to help them recognize alternatives to violent behavior and aggressive responses.

Schools on Train Safety Program (Washington)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to introduce teachers, students, and chaperones to rail and train safety, the environment, and train travel. This program targets all students from kindergarten through high school.

Seattle Social Development Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Urban

Goal: The mission of SSDP is to understand and promote healthy behaviors and positive social development among children, adolescents, and young adults.

Senior FarmShare (Massachusetts)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Older Adults, Older Adults

Goal: The goal of the Senior FarmShare program is to provide local farms with income and low-income seniors with food assistance.

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.
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