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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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Chronic Truancy Initiative

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

Goal: The goal of the initiative was to address poor attendance and other problems within families of identified chronic elementary school truants who missed 20 percent or more of school days within a 6-week period.

Clear the Air (Utah)

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Air

Goal: The goal of Clear the Air Utah is to improve the air quality in Utah.

Club HERO (Helping Everyone Reach Out) (Atlanta, GA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of Club HERO is encourage feelings of support at home and school and increase knowledge about the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs to prevent youths' drug use.

Coaching Corps

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children

Goal: Coaching Corps works to improve the health, educational, and social outcomes for children living in low-income neighborhoods by increasing access to high-quality sports activities.

Impact: Coaching Corps works to improve the physical, emotional and social health of girls and boys growing up in poverty and communities of color by mentoring through sports. To date, 3,000 volunteer coaches have "changed the game" for more than 30,000 children.

Coalition for Community Schools (USA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families

Goal: Coalition for Community Schools’ mission is to mobilize the resources and capacity of multiple sectors and institutions to create a united movement for community schools.

College Track (Oakland, CA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Teens

Goal: College Track's goal is to transform low-income communities into places where college readiness and college graduation are the norms by providing direct service, community partnerships, and advocacy.

Colorectal Cancer Screening in Chinese Americans Project (Seattle, WA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Cancer, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: The goal of this project was to promote colorectal cancer screening among Chinese Americans.

Coming of Age (Philadelphia, PA)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement

Goal: The goal of the Coming of Age initiative is to promote civic engagement, learning and community leadership among residents ages 50 years and older.

Commit 2B Fit (Florida)

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

Goal: The goal of Commit 2B Fit is to educate and motivate children to be physically active and develop healthy eating habits.

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.