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.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Families
Goal: The goal of this program is to change the child protection field by demonstrating a new approach to safeguarding children and supporting families. Based on the premise that many people, agencies, and organizations in a community can contribute to children's safety, the initiative addresses child abuse and neglect by raising neighborhood awareness of child safety issues, empowering neighborhood residents to become more involved with families at risk of abusing or neglecting their children, strengthening locally based organizations and helping them form networks concerned with child safety, and fostering policy, practice, and organizational changes within public sector child protective services agencies. This approach is known as community child protection.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban
Goal: To increase condom use among sexually active high school students.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve asthma management among urban children up to 18 years of age.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: Cool Schools aims to reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, teach children about the environment, create greener spaces for children to learn and play, and provide career development assistance to young adults.
Discovering Previously Unidentified Foodborne Illness Risks through Discussion (Olmstead County, MN)
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety
Goal: The goal of this program was to promote the active management of food borne illness risk factors by food service operators. Its objectives were to: shift the food safety program's focus from counting violations to evaluating food safety risks and systems, use an assessment process based on discussion of foodborne illness risks with the manger/operator, and develop the ability to track assessment results toward the Healthy People 2010 goals.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide more dynamic and effective food safety training programs in order to engage food service workers and get them to adopt healthier food handling practices. In turn, this will reduce the number of food borne disease outbreaks and improve public health.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Older Adults
Goal: The mission of the Elders Living At Home Program is to support elders in making the transition out of homeless, to provide supportive services that build on the individual abilities of elders and to help them overcome the barriers to permanent housing.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Older Adults
Goal: The goal of the project was to find a way for elementary school children to learn about the environment and participate in community service.
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban
Goal: By providing programs for students and adults in the areas of literacy, the visual and performing arts, and service learning, NSCC's goals include improving students' performance in school and encouraging parents to become more involved.
Enrolling and Supporting Organizations Who Encourage Donation of Organs, Marrow, Tissue, or Blood (Buncombe County, NC)
Note: This practice has been Archived.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Civic Engagement
Goal: In May, 2002, the Buncombe County Medical Society committed to enrolling 100 organizations into the Workplace Partnership initiative. BCMS declared itself "community headquarters" for recruiting Buncombe County businesses and organizations in the Workplace Partnership for Life program, and implemented a plan to support these organizations in their efforts to urge donation.