Criteria for Choosing Promising Practices and Community Interventions

What is a promising practice or intervention? Promising practices and interventions are that those that have the potential to effectively address the issues of concern in your community What's the difference between a practice and an intervention? A practice is a particular way of doing things An intervention is usually a whole program or initiative meant to achieve an overall result

Where do you find out about existing promising practices or interventions Networking The Internet Libraries State and national advocacy and professional organizations International, state and federal agencies Foundations and other private funders Academia Word of mouth from the community

How do you identify a true promising practice or intervention? Successful programs: Are comprehensive, flexible, responsive, and persevering See children in the context of families Deal with families as parts of neighborhoods and communities Have a long-term preventive orientation, a clear mission, and continue to evolve over time Are managed by competent and committed individuals with clearly identifiable skills Their staffs are trained and supported to provide high quality, responsive service Operate in settings that encourage practitioners to build strong relationships based on mutual trust and respect Are collaborative both internally and externally Have a set of relationships and core values that strengthen their sense of shared purpose, and give them faith that disappointments and setbacks can be overcome

The basic steps to choosing a promising practice or intervention Conduct a community-based assessment on the pressing issues of the community Decide whether you'll address the issue directly, or whether you'll try to change the conditions that make it possible Find practices or interventions that have successfully addressed the issue in the way you want to address it Determine what elements of a promising intervention will work in your community , and which ones need to be changed Implement the intervention, making adjustments as you go along Evaluate your work and results regularly, understanding that no matter how well any intervention works, it can always be improved

Some difficulties in finding practices or interventions you can use Excellent programs often don't travel well You can't expect people to accept and embrace a program if it's imposed upon them No intervention or practice that involves people is perfect The difference between a successful and an unsuccessful intervention can be subtle If you can't replicate an intervention's resources as well as its practices , you're probably headed for trouble

Some keys to success in application Ideas that are sound and well-developed through experience Ideas that can be taught and can inspire local leadership A sense of mission Access to people who have successfully implemented the program Supportive and wise consultation Technical assistance Local involvement in the intervention Awareness on the part of funders that trying to replicate a program that 's been successful elsewhere doesn't guarantee success overnight, or even at all Adequate resources - people, money, supplies, and time - to achieve your goals

Elements of successful applications of effective programs They combine the replication of the essence of a successful intervention with the adaptation of many of its components to a new setting or population They have had the continuous backing of an intermediary organization They recognize the importance of the systems and institutional context They recognize the importance of people They judge success by the outcomes for individuals and communities They tackle, directly and strategically, the obstacles to large-scale change