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, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children
The goal of this program is to teach children effective problem-solving skills.
Studies demonstrated that ICPS participants scored better than the control group on impulsiveness, inhibition, and total behavior problems; showed fewer high-risk behaviors than never-trained controls; showed improvement in positive, prosocial behaviors and decreases in antisocial behaviors; and performed better on standardized achievement tests.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases, Children, Families, Urban
The goal of this immunization case management intervention is to improve immunization rates among infants of low-income, urban, African American families.
Immunization case management increased the knowledge of immunization schedules, rate of well-child visits, and up-to-date immunization rate for children of participating families.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Public Safety, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
The goal of this program is to increase child restraint use by Hispanic community members.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families
To decrease saturated fat consumption and thus reduce coronary heart disease risk factors in young children.
STRIP's intervention of diet counseling that began at a child's infancy favorably impacted the child's diet through childhood up to ages 8 or 10, but the goal of 2:1 unsaturated-saturated fatty acid ratio in a child's diet was not met for either intervention or control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Literacy, Children
The goal of Itchy's Alphabet is to help children improve their literacy levels.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Educational Attainment, Children
As a national, primarily residential training program, Job Corps' mission is to attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education.
Evaluations showed that Job Corps substantially increased the education and training that program participants received. Nearly 90% of the program group engaged in some education or training (both in and out of Job Corps), compared with about 64% of the control group.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Children, Families
To increase sun protection behaviors in early childhood.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Children, Teens, Urban
The objective of this program is to increase life skills such as risk assessment, decision-making and drug resistance, while enhancing anti-drug norms and attitudes.
Evaluation findings suggest that Keepin' it R.E.A.L. succeeded in decreasing substance use, in reducing negative attitudes/behaviors, and in improving positive attitudes/behaviors.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens
Given the increased prevalence among youth of obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the last 25 years, the goal of Kids N Fitness is to reduce risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome in overweight youth through a family-oriented lifestyle intervention.
These positive health outcomes indicate that a family-centered lifestyle intervention can improve metabolic health among youth.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Families, Urban
The goal of Kinship Connections is to support kin families' social, emotional, and economic needs to increase placement stability within the child’s community. Specific program objectives are to improve family economic security, family relationship functioning, child well-being, and to increase kin caregiver social support.
1Center on the Developing Child. (2007). The impact of early adversity on children’s development (InBrief). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/ resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-onchildrens-development.
2 Generations United. (2017). In loving arms: The protective role of grandparents and other relatives in raising children exposed to trauma. Retrieved from https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/ uhDY7UgdGYnOod6G7VFkdKnuzE3yALmr/17- InLovingArms-Grandfamilies.pdf.