How the PPN Site is Organized
The PPN website is organized around five main sections:
Programs that Work
PPN has organized information on effective programs under four broad outcome areas that are associated with the well-being of children, youth, and families. For each of these outcome areas, one or more specific indicators have been identified (for an explanation of terms such as "outcome area" and "indicator" please refer to the Glossary page). Individual programs may be listed under more than one indicator if applicable. PPN provides a summary of each program that identifies key information about its effectiveness. For information on how programs are assessed for inclusion on the site see How Programs are Considered.
The current PPN outcome areas and indicators are:
Healthy and Safe Children
Youths not using alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs
Youths abstaining from sexual activity or not engaging in risky sexual behavior
Children and youth not engaging in violent behavior or displaying serious conduct problems
Children not experiencing physical, psychological or emotional abuse
Children not experiencing anxiety or mood disorders, such as depression
Babies born weighing more than 5.5 pounds and improving outcomes for low birth weight babies
Children Ready for School
Children ages 0 to 5 exhibiting age-appropriate mental and physical development
Children Succeeding in School
Students performing at grade level or meeting state curriculum standards
Students graduating from high school
Strong Families
Children living above the poverty level
Fathers maintaining regular involvement with their children
Children living in a permanent home
Research in Brief
This section provides links to short summaries (generally eight pages or less) of research findings or synthetic summaries of research, organized by the four outcome areas used in the Programs that Work section. We have screened these summaries for credibility and objectivity. We provide links directly to the research summary web page when possible, although we do not explicitly endorse or support any web site to which we link outside the Promising Practices Network.
Service Delivery
Communities are interested in learning what other communities are doing to improve the delivery of services for children and families. We provide links to and summarize this information on issues such as:
- Service integration
- Coordination
- Results-based planning
- Improved management practices
- Monitoring outcomes
- Citizen involvement
- Funding tied to community partnerships/ federal and state funding incentives
Resources and Tools
This section includes links to databases, fact sheets, screening tools, seminal reports, and a variety of other resources that are among the best research-based materials available on children and families. Resources and tools are available on the following topics:
Child Care / Preschool
Mental Health
Substance Abuse
Partner Pages
Each organizational member of PPN has a page that lists research and information on the organization’s specific priority areas related to children, families, and communities, such as after-school care or family support. Many of these organizations represent states while others have national or local constituencies. Current partner pages include:
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More to Come
This site currently represents only a fraction of proven and promising programs being implemented. The site will be continuously updated with new programs and indicators as appropriate. We encourage you to send us suggestions for programs that have been formally evaluated. We will consider all program recommendations.
Also, you may send suggestions for Research in Brief or Service Delivery items for our consideration. As a rule, we will not link to sites that do not have objective research or credible information that pertains to the outcome areas listed on the site, nor will we link to commercial sites.
We welcome your feedback on this site and recommended additions or changes to make it more useful. Please send comments to promisingpractices@rand.org. To keep up to date on new additions to the site, sign up for the PPN email newsletter.
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