Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth





Community or Media Campaign

Adolescent Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids Program (ATLAS)
Program reduced the use of steroids and other illicit drugs, and improved nutrition, exercise behavior, and drug refusal skills.

"Arthur" Television Program
Program improved children’s narrative development compared with children in the control condition who watched the Between the Lions program.

Becoming A Responsible Teen (BART)
Program involved schools and community employers to promote high school graduation and job skills.

Cambridge-Sommerville Youth Study
Program did not show any positive impact on arrest rates.

Canvassing program
Phone-based and face-to-face canvassing increased rates of voter turnout among young adults.

Career Academies
Program involved schools and community employers to promote high school graduation and job skills.

Children at Risk
Community-wide, multi-component youth development program decreased middle schoolers' chances of repeating a grade.

Class Action - Project Northland Phase 2
Program reduced alcohol use and sales of alcohol to young-looking customers.

Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol
Program engaged various community institutions to decrease youth drunk driving.

Creating Lasting Connections
Program showed positive impacts on service utilization by parents and youth as well as on measures of parent knowledge.

Gimmie 5: A Fresh Nutrition Concept for Students
Program increased students' knowledge of fruit and vegetable nutrition

GO GIRLS!
Program decreased students' weight concerns and increased their positive view towards making friends.

Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP)
Program reduced aggressive and destructive behavior and delayed initiation into substance use.

Keepin' it R.E.A.L.
Program reduced gateway drug usage and improved norms, attitudes, and resistance strategies towards drug use.

Midwestern Prevention Project
Program employed individual, parental, and community components to decrease drug use in adolescents.

Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
Social welfare service had positive impacts on welfare-receiving parents and children.

Moving to Opportunities program (MTO)
Program that enabled families to move to better neighborhoods has mixed impacts on children, adolescents and youth.

New Hope Project
Program positively impacted parents' employment and poverty status and children's educational and behavioral outcomes.

Parenting Adolescents Wisely (PAW) Program
Program was found to reduce problematic child behaviors.

PARTNERS Project
Program had no significant impact on increasing effective and consistent contraceptive use.

Preparing for the Drug Free Years
Program decreased growth in adolescent alcohol use and negative parent-child interactions.

Progresa Poverty Program
Program increased enrollment rates and education levels of poor children.

Project Northland
Multi-year, multi-component program lowered adolescents' substance use and susceptibility to peer influence.

Project Sixteen
Addition of community component reduced the typical increase of tobacco use in teens.

Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways
Program increased the knowledge-base of participants.

Safe Dates
Program decreased students' favorable attitudes toward dating violence and students were less likely to report being perpetrators of abuse in their current relationship.

Safer Choices
Multi-component sexuality education program led to higher rates of condom usage in high-schoolers.

Self Sufficiency Project (SSP)
Income supplement program increased parental employment and income as well as children's' school achievement and activity involvement.

 

Tobacco Policy Options for Prevention

Community-based intervention which slowed increases in tobacco usage and decreased perceptions of tobacco accessibility.

 

Triple P-Positive Parenting Program
Program reduced child behavior problems and dysfunctional parenting styles, and increased parental competence.

Video-Based STD Patient Education
Program increased condom coupon redemption, knowledge and risk perception about STDs/HIV, and positive attitudes about condom use.