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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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Maine Juvenile Drug Treatment Court (Maine)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve the quality of juvenile justice in Maine through timely and effective substance abuse, social services, and juvenile justice interventions.

Supporting At-Risk Youth with Summer High School Preparatory Programs (Cherokee-Graham-Swain Counties, NC)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

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

Goal: The goal is to help prepare at-risk youth to develop their academic skills and self-confidence for as they transition from middle school to high school.

The Summer Youth Fellows Program (Atlanta, GA)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children

Goal: Hands on Atlanta aims to build community and meet critical needs through volunteer service and civic engagement. This program meets those goals while providing valuable work experience and education for youth.

Work Central Project (North Carolina)

Note: This practice has been Archived.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Employment, Adults

Goal: The goals of this program are:

1. Re-Employment: They create job search plans, develop job readiness strategies, and emphasize family maintenance. This goal recognizes a noticeable number of first jobs do not last; therefore, Work Central prevents the re-spending of taxpayer dollars already spent once.

2. Job Retention: They review support systems, promote problem solving, and support longevity on the job. This goal is measured in 6 and 12 month benchmarks.

3. Career Advancement: They introduce customers to career paths, explore training opportunities, and pursue educational plans.

4. Asset Accumulation: They connect customers to checking and savings account resources, inform customers about financial counseling, and educate customers about home ownership opportunities. Work Central replaces homeless with hope so people will believe that tomorrow will be better than their today.

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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