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 Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children
Goal: School Food FOCUS is a national collaborative that leverages the knowledge and procurement power of large school districts to make school meals nationwide more healthful, regionally sourced, and sustainably produced.
Impact: School Food FOCUS helps partners procure healthy and sustainable school foods, works towards policies that advance healthy school foods, and facilitates knowledge sharing around school food issues.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Goal: Septic systems serve approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population and about 40 percent of new developments. The U.S. Census Bureau has indicated that at least 10 percent of septic systems have stopped working. Some communities report failure rates as high as 70 percent! The goal of this program is to improve the performance of decentralized septic systems.
Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air
Goal: The goal of this partnership is to improve the environmental performance and fuel efficiency of the US freight sector (truck & rail) through the use of a voluntary market incentive system and to encourage retailers/end users to choose trucking and/or rail companies that are environmental leaders in their respective industry segments.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children
Goal: S4L strives to create self-confidence and change the lives of underprivileged children by providing orthodontic services at no cost.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children, Families
Goal: The Smile Programs... the mobile dentists mission is to bring state-of-the-art, dental care to those students in need in the most comfortable and effective way possible.
Impact: Smile Programs provides mobile dental care to children in schools in over a dozen states.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Diabetes, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians is to provide diabetes education and services to Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens
Goal: The mission of the Sponsor-A-Mind® program is to supply underprivileged school children and classrooms in less affluent neighborhoods with the basic materials needed to exist and thrive in education.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens, Urban
Goal: To create and evaluate new ways to prevent teen dating violence and abuse.
Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Families
Goal: The goal of beautification and restoration projects is to restore neighborhoods and communities in order to prevent criminal activity and encourage community engagement.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goals of this program are to improve parenting skills and children’s behaviors and decrease conduct disorders; to improve children’s social competencies; and to improve family attachment, harmony, communication, and organization.