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 Evidence-Based Practice, Economy, Adults
Goal: Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.
Impact: These approaches tend to be intensive and comprehensive, address psycho-social skills as well as occupation-specific competencies, provide opportunities for work-based learning, engage employers, incorporate evidence-based practices, and emphasize continuous improvement.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Urban
Goal: YO! Baltimore helps young people, previously disconnected from traditional learning environments, to increase their wage earnings and education credentials.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders
Goal: The Zero Suicide Initiative is a comprehensive model of suicide prevention that challenges health and behavioral health care systems to strive for zero suicides among those in their care.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Adults, Urban
Goal: To engage patients who may benefit from early intervention and/or education about substance use disorders, and to direct the individuals toward treatment options at the most appropriate levels of care.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Children, Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The program's primary goal is to prepare the Harvey County community for a disaster. It also seeks to increase outreach to minority communities and recruit volunteers for the MRC.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The mission of 826 National is to help children ages 6-18 develop their writing skills, and to help teachers get their students excited about writing. The mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: The project aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and reverse the trend of obesity among students and their families.
Impact: The ABC Fitness Program demonstrates the feasibility of bursts of structured physical activity for elementary school students with the beneficial effects on fitness and other health measures.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of Adolescents Living Safely is to prevent HIV infection and AIDS among runaway adolescents.
Impact: Adolescents Living Safely changes youth sexual behavior to reduce transmission of HIV among runaways.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Literacy
Goal: ALMA’s mission is to help adults gain basic reading, writing, and math skills they need to achieve their educational, career, and personal goals.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of the Al's Pals program is to teach children how to practice positive ways to express feelings, relate to others, communicate, brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and differentiate between safe and unsafe substances and situations.
Impact: Studies have shown that the program resulted in higher degrees of positive change in the intervention groups, increases in prosocial behaviors and positive coping behaviors, and decreases in antisocial and negative coping behaviors.