Promising Practices

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Civic Engagement, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of the Portland Fruit Tree Project is to increase equitable access to healthy food and strengthen communities by empowering neighbors to share in the harvest and care of city-grown food resources.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy, Adults, Urban

Goal: The program’s main focus was on moving welfare recipients quickly into the workforce.

Impact: There was a sizable increase in employment rates and job earnings, reduction in welfare dependency, and savings to the government.

Filed under Effective Practice, Environmental Health / Air, Urban

Goal: The 2001 action plan, which is more aggressive than the Kyoto Protocol, calls for a 10 percent reduction below 1990 carbon dioxide emissions by 2010.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Cancer, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among older adults.

Impact: Participants in the intervention group had significantly higher colorectal cancer screening attendance, as well as having more positive attitudes about screening and placing a higher priority on screening.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants

Goal: The goal of the FEC is to empower federal agencies to achieve cost-effective, environmentally responsible electronics management throughout the product life cycle. This goal will be achieved in part by:
- Promoting ENERGY STAR® features.
- Extending the life span of equipment.
- Increasing the recovery rate and expanding the recycling infrastructure for electronics.
- Utilizing the concept of supply and demand to promote environmentally preferable electronic equipment.
- Reducing the volume and toxicity of electronic equipment waste.

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

Goal: The goals of the Open Meadow program are 1) to re-engage high risk youth so they will complete their education; and 2) to connect high risk youth to their community in a positive way.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Social Environment, Urban

Goal: The goal of VBC is to recreate a sense of kinmanship and collaboration through community building and the creative reclamation of public space.

Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Housing & Homes, Urban

Goal: The goal of this program is to end homelessness in the City of Portland and Multnomah County by 2015. As efforts to end homelessness continue, city and county officials will focus on nine actions. Programs throughout the county will address moving people into Housing First, ending the practice of discharging people into homelessness from jails and hospitals, improving outreach, emphasizing permanent solutions, increasing the housing supply, creating new partnerships, improving the rent assistance system, increasing economic opportunity for homeless people and implementing new data collection technology.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens, Adults

Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce tobacco use in Oregon.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families

Goal: The goal of this program is to teach effective parenting practices in order to promote healthy child adjustment.

Impact: Immediate changes for parents include improved positive parenting practices and reduced family coercion. Benefits to these parenting practices, in turn, have been found to result in reductions in child behavior problems and parental depression.