Hi,
Basically the behavioral principles underlying "Best Practice" in
community based projects are empirically grounded. A rule of thumb to
use when thinking about Best Practices is that "success breeds
success".
Best practices is a term that has weaved its way in and out of many
disciplines from business to science to government to social services.
Generally, it's an organizational tool, a framework and or a set of
principles for organizing an organization or activity.
It's based on the premise that in order o maximize their potential for
success, community based projects should adopt a set of principles and
standards that have been proven through both research and practices to
achieve their goals. Consider how the organization, Open, discusses
"best practices" for a substance abuse program.
"Best practices are those strategies, activities, or approaches which
have been shown through research and evaluation to be effective at
preventing and/or delaying substance abuse."
http://www.open.org/~westcapt/bestprac.htm
The strategies, activities or approaches can be very general and/or
particular to specific fields. Community groups can develop them on
their own, or if they are receiving funds from local, state or federal
government sources, they may be required to follow or sturcture their
best practices according to government standards.
For example, the state of Pennsylvania has developed a "Guidelines for
Best Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services"
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/Omhsas/Guidelines/Ch_Ad_TOC.asp
and in doing so, they also developed specific set of expectations for
community base programs.
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/Omhsas/Guidelines/Ch_Ad_EXPECT.asp
Best practices can also be developed by larger groupings of
independent nongovernment groups. For examles, the Canadian
Association for Community Care developed a Best Practices for respite
care to be a model for community based programs. They said,
"The primary purpose of this guide is to provide parents, service
providers and health planners with concise, user-friendly information
for understanding and implementing best practices in respite services.
This document is intended to be trend-setting in the development of
quality respite services that will meet the diverse needs of children
and their families. Furthermore, ideas and concepts are expected to
change and evolve with use over time."
http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/cacc/00001_en.htm
Finally, in a bit of a twist to the quesiton, the issue of best
practices can also be a principle guiding community based programs in
the sense that evidence shows local community organizations, rather
than state or federal insitutions, are the most appropriate problem
solving starting points.
Additional Resources:
Best Practices
How Tobacco Prevention Works.... And Why - Wyoming State Government
http://wdhfs.state.wy.us/tobacco/bpsummary.htm
Best practices in brownfields redevelopment and environmental justice
http://www.narc.org/environment/bestprac.html
What Works in Communities - Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
http://www.hud.gov/whatworks/
Search Strategies:
"best practices", principles
best practices, community projects
http://wdhfs.state.wy.us/tobacco/bpsummary.htm |
