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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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Bridging the Gap: Youth Violence Reduction (Richmond)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Prevention & Safety, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: To develop a useful, sustainable and replicable model designed to reduce the risk of re-injury and mortality in Richmond area youths who have been previously hospitalized with violence related injuries including gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and assault injuries.

Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development Program (BUILD) (Chicago, IL)

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

Goal: BUILD's mission is to engage at-risk youth in the schools and on the streets, so they can realize their educational and career potential and contribute to the stability, safely and well being of your communities.

Brocodile the Crocodile (Upstate New York )

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Rural

Goal: The goal of this program was to develop and implement an intervention in the child care setting to reduce children's television viewing.

Brooklyn GreenBridge (Brooklyn, NY)

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: Working with block associations, community gardens, community centers, and other groups, Brooklyn GreenBridge promotes conservation and community through gardening activities.

Buck Tobacco Sponsorship Project (California)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults

Goal: The goal of the Buck Tobacco Sponsorship Project is to work with rodeo governing bodies throughout the state to establish written, voluntary policies restricting tobacco sponsorship at rodeos.

BuckleUpBoston! Child Passenger Safety Program (Boston, MA)

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

Goal: The goal of BUB is to increase awareness about CPS and usage rates of seats amongst low-income families in the city of Boston.

Building Bridges (Mississippi)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Adults

Goal: Building Bridges has the overall mission of providing education, training, services, advocacy, and promoting the rights and dignity of individuals infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Impact: Building Bridges provides free HIV testing, prevention case management, individual and group counseling, and referrals for additional needed services.

Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) (Selected communities in the U.S.)

Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban

Goal: BELL exists to transform the academic achievements, self-confidence, and life trajectories of children living in under-resourced, urban communities.

Impact: Students enrolled in summer courses may read more books during the summer than students not enrolled in summer courses.

Building Effective Programs for Summer Learning (USA)

Filed under Good Idea, Art & Recreation, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Goal: The goal of the paper is to introduce effective practices for building a summer learning program that reaches the neediest kids, gets kids learning, and keeps going strong.

Building Essential Skills through Training/ BayStateWorks (Massachusetts)

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment

Goal: The goal of this program was to improve the skills and productivity of the Massachusetts workforce.

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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