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, Economy / Poverty, Children, Families
Goal: The mission of the BackPack program is to provide food to hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The Backyard Garden Program builds food self-sufficiency by empowering low-income households to grow fresh produce where they live.
Filed under Effective Practice, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Children
Goal: The mission of the Banking on Our Future (BOOF) program is to execute a global delivery system for financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts, with a focus on urban, under-served communities.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban
Goal: The partnership uses a comprehensive strategy with four specific goals:
1. Carry out a multi-agency law enforcement (suppression) strategy to reduce gun-related and other violent crimes committed by youths 17 and older.
2. Operate an intensive intervention program to reduce the risk factors for the highest risk youths, their families, and the community.
3. Mobilize the community at the grassroots level to address the problems of hard-to-reach families and the highest risk youths.
4. Operate a long-range prevention program that identifies, links, and strengthens existing resources to serve youths who may be at risk.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The goal of the Bay Area SCORES program is to reduce obesity, increase physical fitness, and manage cardiovascular health-related risks while improving academic performance in children between the ages of 6 and 12 through soccer, creative expression, service learning, “hip hop for health,” and creative writing.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Disabilities, Children, Teens
Goal: The mission of this program is to stabilize students, help them earn their high school diploma, and prepare them for a future as productive workers.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Educational Attainment, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal is to guide students from underserved communities towards careers in healthcare, simultaneously fulfilling workforce needs.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: To provide academic, vocational, recreational and life skills for at risk youth ages 12-21 in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Food Safety, Children, Teens, Adults, Families
Goal: The goal of Be Food Safe is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by instructing consumers in proper procedures for handling and preparing food.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The mission of Beats & Rhymes is to provide schools and community centers with the knowledge and resources they need to implement their own successful program, and subsequent music group.
Impact: Beats & Rhymes teaches youth music-making skills through implementation in various Minneapolis after-school programs.