Promising Practices

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens

Goal: The goal of this program is to educate students about alcohol and to prevent alcohol abuse.

Impact: Evaluations showed significant gains in alcohol-related knowledge, significantly better attitudes toward drinking and driving, and reductions in alcohol consumption.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children, Families, Rural

Goal: The mission of the Teddy Bear Clinic is to decrease fear of medical professionals and the hospital environment, and to teach healthy habits at a young age.

Impact: The program has been highly regarded throughout the community, and we have had requests from parents outside the community to offer it to their schools as well. We are considering hosting two clinics for other schools to join.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens

Goal: The program aims to develop healthy behaviors, life skills, and a sense of purpose in order to prevent problem behaviors.

Impact: Studies have shown that adolescents in the Teen Outreach Program are at 52% lower risk of school suspension, 60% lower risk of course failure, and 53% lower risk of teenage pregnancy.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health, Teens, Urban

Goal: To enable teens from disadvantaged circumstances to develop healthy behaviors, life skills, and a sense of purpose in order to prevent problem behaviors.

Impact: This program equips teens to better develop healthy behaviors and relationships,
develop life and leadership skills, and achieve educational
success.

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens, Urban

Goal: Program goals include educating and training young people from some of the most life-threatening neighborhoods of Oakland to enable them to participate in making their lives, their neighborhoods, and their communities safer and healthier, and educating policy makers, community members, and the media on the impact of violence on youth and violence prevention strategies.

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Children

Goal: The purpose of this project is to link Florida’s Title V program (CMS) and local Community Health Centers to:

- Reach and identify uninsured children with special health care needs in Florida and enroll them in insurance
- Focus on underserved communities that traditionally have faced numerous barriers to care, particularly those in the black and Hispanic communities, and children living in rural areas
- Use telemedicine to facilitate enrollment in CMS, care coordination, and access to specialty care
- Work with trusted community elders -- grandmothers -- as lay health partners to facilitate health-related outreach and support to children with special health care needs and their families.

In short, the project seeks to build a sustainable medical home for children with special health care needs in the safety net.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders

Goal: The goal of this program is to provide a resource and referral service that could meet the needs of lower-income employees who might not be well served under a typical employee assistance program.

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Urban

Goal: Goals of the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition include:

- Reduce waste & help meet recycling goals.
- Reduce water use on landscapes by 50% or more.
- Nurture healthy soils while reducing fertilizer use.
- Use integrated pest management to minimize chemical use.
- Prevent or reduce storm water pollution to our local creeks and bay.
- Lower maintenance associated with mowing and shearing.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Create wildlife habitat.

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health, Teens, Adults, Women, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban

Goal: Bright Beginnings seeks to prevent poor pregnancy outcomes among Prince George's low-income, medically underserved women and children.

Impact: Bright Beginnings has provided services to thousands of women to help reduce infant mortality and prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. The program has been noted as a promising practice by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since 2010.

Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education, Children, Urban

Goal: The goal of The Character Effect is to foster the development of students’ social-emotional skills, improving their behavior and readiness to learn in the classroom.