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 Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce truancy in West Contra Costa schools.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Transportation, Adults, Urban
Goal: Toronto’s “Turn it Off” initiative sought to encourage motorists to avoid idling their cars when picking up or dropping off at school or at public transportation terminals, which in turn would improve air quality and help reduce urban contribution to climate change.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Employment, Adults, Urban
Goal: The mission of Twin Cities RISE! is to provide employers with skilled workers - primarily men from communities of color in the Twin Cities area - by training under and unemployed adults for skilled jobs that pay a living wage of at least $20,000 annually.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Goal: The goal of this program is to provide eyeglasses to people in developing countries and to involve students in improving conditions in developing countries.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban
Goal: The goals of Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter are:
- To reduce street homelessness and the shelter population by two-thirds in five years.
- To eliminate chronic, or long-term, homelessness on City streets and shelters in five years.
The plan's objectives include initiatives to better serve individuals and families who are at-risk of homelessness or who become homeless, as well as ensure that the City and its citizens are maximizing public resources. The plan has nine points - encompassing 60 initiatives - that seek to:
- Overcome street homelessness
- Prevent homelessness
- Coordinate discharge planning
- Coordinate city services and benefits
- Minimize disruption to homeless families and children
- Minimize duration of homelessness
- Shift resources into preferred solutions
- Provide resources for vulnerable populations to access and afford housing
- Measure progress, evaluate success, and invest in continuous quality improvement.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Rural
Goal: The Unused Medications Repository, administered by Community Health Center of Southeast
Kansas, provides donated medications free of charge to eligible clinics in Kansas.
Impact: Over $20 million worth of prescription medications have been donated to low-income and uninsured Kansans.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban
Goal: Isles, Inc., is a nationally recognized nonprofit community development and environmental organization with the mission to foster more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities. Through their Urban Brownfields program, Isles works to create a deeper understanding of the health and environmental conditions in Trenton.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Urban Mold and Moisture Program is to reduce environmental mold, moisture, and asthma triggers in homes to improve pediatric respiratory health.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Food Safety
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce the risk of foodborne illness for Maricopa County citizens and visitors by using food sample results to address complaints and increase the efficacy of routine inspections.