ADAPTATION OF BEST PRACTICES
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN CANADA (Written Report, 2015)

AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE INNOVATIONS AND REFORMS (MPA 620)

SUBMITTED BY UMAR SHADRACK. J

SUBMITTED TO: PROF .SHERWIN WILLIAM A. CUASAY (MPM) UNIVERSITY OF BATANGAS GRADUATE SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION A best practice may be a particular method, or it may be a whole program or intervention. “Best practice” status is sometimes conferred either officially – by a government body, professional association, or other authoritative entity – or by published research results. Best practices, in short, are those methods or programs that have been found to be successful in accomplishing their goals and that can be used, or adapted for use, in your circumstances. The standards for choosing a best practice vary tremendously, depending upon who’s doing the choosing. In some cases, almost any program that can show some success is labeled a best practice. In others, the criteria are so strict that only a few are selected (more likely with professional associations that are trying to set or uphold research standards.) Where the standards are relatively loose, programs designated as best practices may be only adequate, rather than truly the best the field has to offer. Where the standards are too strict, many superb programs may be passed over because they don’t collect enough data on themselves, or for other technical reasons. When looking at best practices with an eye toward using one for a local intervention, it’s important to keep in mind whose best practices they are, and how they were chosen.

OBJECTIVE Best or promising practices can help you solve community problems, and save you the trouble of reinventing the wheel. If someone else has already found an effective way to resolve your issue or advance your cause, it makes sense to use it.
The first section of this chapter discussed how to recognize and choose promising practices for health and community development. Sometimes, however, those are only the preliminary steps. Once they’re completed, there may remain the task of getting those practices actually adopted and used in the community. In this section, we explore how to do just that, as well as looking at what a “best practice” is, and how to go about finding one appropriate for your needs. CONTENT A best practice may be a particular method, or it may be a whole program or intervention. “Best practice” status is sometimes conferred either officially – by a government body, professional association, or other authoritative entity – or by published research results. In general, a method or program gains such status by being measurable. That means that its goals are clear and that progress toward them can be measured. A smoking cessation program, for instance, can find out exactly what percentage of the smokers it served quit, and remained smoke-free after a year. It can also compare that percentage to similar percentages for other smoking cessation programs and for the general population. * Notably successful. The method or program not only gains good results, but makes more progress toward achieving its goals than most others with similar aims. * Replicable. The method or program is structured and documented clearly enough so that it can be reproduced (“replicated” is the formal term that social scientists, health professionals, government agencies, and funders often use) elsewhere * Replication is always an issue. Even when every detail of a program is recorded, and its philosophical base is carefully explained, it’s seldom possible to reproduce it exactly. Communities and populations are different in size, character, culture, and other ways, and all of that affects the operation of a program or the application of a technique. In addition, some programs work as well as they do because of the individual skills or character of those who run them, a factor that it’s often impossible to reproduce. * The real test of replication, as far as you’re concerned, should be whether you can reproduce it – exactly, or adapted to your needs – in your own situation. If you can, it’s replicable; if you can’t, it’s not, regardless of what the research says. In a sense, the more adaptable a program or practice is, the more replicable it is, and that may be the key to whether it will be adopted by others. * Best practices, in short, are those methods or programs that have been found to be successful in accomplishing their goals, and that can be used, or adapted for use, in your circumstances. The standards for choosing a best practice vary tremendously, depending upon who’s doing the choosing. In some cases, almost any program that can show some success is labeled a best practice. In others, the criteria are so strict that only a few are selected (more likely with professional associations that are trying to set or uphold research standards.) * Where the standards are relatively loose, programs designated as best practices may be only adequate, rather than truly the best the field has to offer. Where the standards are too strict, many superb programs may be passed over because they don’t collect enough data on themselves, or for other technical reasons. When looking at best practices with an eye toward using one for a local intervention, it’s important to keep in mind whose best practices they are, and how they were chosen. * Keep in mind that “promising practices” – those that may not have been tested or in existence for very long, but seem to work – are also worth investigating. You may find something that seems to have serious potential, and that fits perfectly with the folks you work with, the goals you want to accomplish, and your philosophy. * Appropriateness to your goals. Does the best practice in question actually address your specific goals? The fact that it’s a best practice for the issue you’re concerned with doesn’t necessarily mean that it has the same aims you do. If it treats the symptoms of a problem, that may not be enough if you’re attempting to deal with the underlying causes, for instance. * Fit with the structure and philosophy of the organization or initiative that will use it. A program all of whose authority is in the hands of organization staff would not be a good fit with an organization whose main thrust is to help participants take control of their lives, for example. * Availability of resources. A sure way to make an effort fail is to approach it with inadequate resources, whether money, personnel, or skills. Make certain you understand exactly what a particular best practice will require in the way of resources – and that you can somehow provide them – before you commit to using it. * Cost-effectiveness. If a program works well, but costs huge amounts of money or time to reproduce, it may be all but useless to most organizations or communities that want to use it. A program that works slightly less well, but costs a third as much might, in fact, be a much better candidate for the “best practice” label.
We have previously set out some general criteria for identifying best and promising practices and programs, based largely on the work of Lisbeth Schorr. According to those criteria, best practices have all or many of these characteristics: * They are comprehensive, aiming at all aspects of an issue. * They are flexible and responsive, reacting to the needs of the population and changes in circumstances and conditions. * They persevere, keeping it long as is necessary – indefinitely, if that’s what it takes. * They look at issues and people in their context – family, history, community, etc. * They target the underlying causes in addition to the symptoms of an issue or problem. * They have – and stick to – a clear mission. * They evolve over time, as need dictates. * They are managed by competent people with appropriate skills. * Their staff members are trained and supported to provide high-quality, responsive service. * They foster strong staff/participant relationships based on mutual respect. * They collaborate, both internally and externally. * Both the organization and individual staff members have a set of core values that strengthen their dedication, morale, and resolve, and that give them a shared sense of purpose for the work
Why promote the adoption and use of best practices? One answer to this question is obvious: employing a method or program that’s been tested and found successful increases the chances that you’ll accomplish your goals, and that life will therefore be better for the folks who participate. There are, however, further reasons why the use of a best practice can be advantageous. * Using a recognized best practice makes it easier to justify the work. If an organization or initiative is starting from scratch, the community – and especially potential participants – may be justifiably skeptical about what it’s doing. Demonstrating that it’s using a practice that has been shown to be effective can relieve at least some of that skepticism and gain support. * Using recognized best practices can bolster the credibility of an organization. It shows not only that the organization is using a tested process, but that it has been thinking ahead and conducting research to make sure it’s doing the best job possible. * Using best practices can make it easier to get funding. Funders look more favorably on proposals that can demonstrate proven success.
There is a downside to this advantage as well. Sometimes funders insist on the use of best practices, or of a single best practice. They see this as minimizing the possibility of interventions not working, but it also minimizes the possibility of innovation and the development of new best practices. Moreover, it ignores the fact that best practices don’t always work in every situation, and that some organizations may get outstanding results using practices that don’t show up in the research. * Using a best practice removes a lot of the guesswork from planning. Employing a program or method whose structure and process are carefully documented makes it easier to set up and implement, and increases the chances that it will go smoothly. * The originators of the practice are known, and might be available to consult on how to best implement it. They can troubleshoot when there’s difficulty, or help to adjust it to fit the community or population. If the originators aren’t available, there may be others experienced with the practice who can help. * Most important – and most obvious – we know that best practices work. They’ve been shown to provide the changes in behavior or conditions and the outcomes we’re interested in.

When should you promote the adoption and use of best practices?
Promoting the adoption of best practices should probably be an ongoing activity, but some times are especially appropriate for it. * Before a new intervention or program begins. It’s easier to incorporate or adopt a practice for something new than to superimpose it on a program or intervention that’s already up and running. Those starting a new operation are usually more open to existing practices as well, especially if they hold out a reasonable promise of success. In addition, using a best practice starts a new operation out on the right foot politically. * When there’s a serious community problem that has to be tackled. Nothing may have started yet, but the incidence of domestic violence, child abuse, tuberculosis cases, or homelessness has reached crisis proportions. The community and/or relevant organizations might be willing to entertain the idea of adopting a best practice to deal with the situation. * When what’s being done isn’t working well. If a current intervention simply isn’t having the desired effect on an issue, it’s probably a good time to suggest a proven practice. * When the community requests it. In some cases, publicity about a particularly effective program or process can mobilize community opinion, especially if citizens perceive, as in the paragraph above, that the community has a serious problem to address. * When funders or officials request or demand it. As research results become more and more easily available through online sources, more funders insist that proven practices be followed by those they fund. A word of caution here: make sure that funders’ requirements don’t rule out adaptation to your specific circumstances. As mentioned above, strict use of best practices can sometimes get in the way of flexibility and new ideas

Who should be involved in promoting the adoption and use of best practices?
In trying to persuade a community or organization to adopt best practices, it’s best to involve as many stakeholders – those affected by the proposed program or intervention – as possible. If they have a hand in seeking out and researching best practices, they’re more likely to be excited about and willing to adopt them, rather than feeling that their work is being challenged. Those who might be involved include: * Practitioners – health and human service workers, community developers, etc. * Members of the population that will participate in or benefit from the best practices in question. * Those who’ll be indirectly affected by the program. These include people whose jobs might change – police, social workers, etc. who are not directly involved, but who might have to deal with the effects of the practice – as well as landlords, business people, town boards, and others who might experience changes as a result of an intervention. * Interested community members. It’s always wise to include the community at large. Inclusion leads to more community support, which in turn can translate into resources. * Local and, if appropriate, county or state officials. If you’re seeking public funding, or, again, if you simply want community support, it’s crucial that you invite these people to be part of the process.
In practice, it may be unusual, or even impossible, to involve all these groups. If it is possible, however, the results of a participatory process are apt to gain greater community support for the program or practice, and increase the chances of success.

Where do you find best practices?
Be aware that much of what you find may fall into the category of “promising practices,” or may simply be interesting ideas or programs that others have tried. Don’t sell these short – they may be a tremendous source of inspiration for a solution that will work for your situation.
Be aware that much of what you find may fall into the category of “promising practices,” or may simply be interesting ideas or programs that others have tried. Don’t sell these short – they may be a tremendous source of inspiration for a solution that will work for your situation.
To find best practices, try: * The Internet. The Internet has over a billion sites, and grows by millions a year. Once you develop good search skills, you can find nearly anything. * Networking. Talk to everyone you know, and find out what they know. They may even be able to provide introductions, or at least information, so that you can contact programs or initiatives and learn about what they're doing. * Libraries. Public libraries, as well as those at colleges and universities, are a great source, and librarians can be extremely helpful in finding what you're looking for. Many journals or individual journal articles found in libraries can now be found on the Internet as well, but may also require subscription or a membership or user’s fee, whereas access to those items – whether in hard copy or online – is generally free in libraries. * State and national advocacy and professional organizations. These organizations often give awards for best practices, or document them in journal articles and at conferences. The journals are usually available in libraries, either public or academic, and often on the Internet as well; conference proceedings are often posted on the Internet. You can contact the organization or go to its website to find out what's available.
Sometimes these organizations, or even governments, hold competitions to highlight new best practices. These are usually posted on the Internet, and the work of the finalists – or even that of all the contestants – can be a good source of ideas. * International, state, and federal agencies. UNESCO, the U.S. Council of Mayors, HUD, and others have listings of "best practices" in programs they fund. These may be on the Internet (see Resources for several listings), in government publications, or available in print from the agencies themselves. * Foundations and other private funders. These funders also may list best practices, or may simply describe projects they fund. Many of these lists and descriptions are also on the Internet, in libraries, or are available from the funders themselves. * Academia. Local colleges and universities may have researchers looking at just what you're concerned with, or know others who are. Furthermore, there may be graduate students who'd like to work with you on a project. Start by contacting the university department most closely connected to the work you do. * Word of mouth from the community. Clergy, members of service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.), business people, and other community members may know of successful programs or initiatives similar to the one you want to start

How do you promote the adoption and use of best practices? Once you’ve assembled a group of stakeholders to take part in helping to convince the community or organization to adopt best practices, you have to define what you’re doing, identify some possibilities that match your goals and circumstances, and do the job of persuasion. Even then, you’re not finished: you have to make sure that people have the proper training and resources to make the best practice a best practice for your situation, and you must continue examining what you’re doing to make it even better. * Define your issue. What exactly is it you want to address? If it’s a broad issue, are you addressing the whole thing, or just a part of it? If the issue is violence in the community, for instance, are you planning to make that your focus, or are you going to concentrate on youth violence, or domestic violence, or certain kinds of violent crime? Remember, as we’ll discuss in more detail below, that you need resources that match what you want to do. * Define the outcomes you intend to achieve. The best practice you choose should aim at the outcomes you’re interested in. If you’re trying to get at the causes of domestic violence, for instance, then you should be looking for a best practice that does specifically that, rather than one that simply reduces the incidence of domestic violence. The former is likely to include elements of community education, mentoring, peer support, counseling for abused children, etc., in addition to increased police training and enforcement and law or policy changes. A violence-reduction program might only include the training/enforcement and policy change pieces. It may be a highly effective program, but it won’t produce the outcomes you’re interested in.
This is also a place to consider philosophical issues. There may be highly effective programs that reach their goals through methods you’d prefer to avoid, or that are based on assumptions you disagree with. Community health education can be educator-centered and based solely on the transmission of information, for example, or it can be a partnership among educators and learners, involving active and experiential learning. Violence prevention can be purely a matter of rigid enforcement of strict laws and increased policing, or it can include outreach, community education, mentoring, parenting classes, etc. It’s important to choose a best practice that’s a good fit with the philosophy and goals you believe in. * Identify the nature of your population. An exemplary model may nonetheless be aimed at involving potential participants in searching for best practices. Does your population largely consist of a certain ethnic, racial, age, socio-economic, cultural, or other group? Does it have unusual or unique characteristics that would make a particular best practice suitable or unsuitable? * Explore the context. Community history, geography (whether your community is urban, rural, isolated, etc.), attitudes, relationships, class structure – all can influence whether a method or program will be effective or not. Promote the use of best practices. Under “When should you promote the adoption and use of best practices?”, we discussed some times when it might be relatively easy to convince the community or an organization to adopt tested ideas and processes. When there’s a new initiative, when it’s obvious that what’s being done is ineffective, when there’s an immediate problem to be solved, when the community or funders demand proven practices – all these are times when best practices might be advanced and embraced without much resistance.
But what about the far more common situation in which there is already a service or initiative directed at the issue in question? It may be just successful enough that people can argue that it’s unnecessary to change it, even though it’s been documented that other approaches gain much better outcomes. In addition, the group administering or delivering it – or the community, for that matter – may have an emotional attachment to it. They may have developed it themselves, and/or invested a lot of time and effort to start and maintain it. How do you convince them to change direction?
If you’ve put together a multi-sector group of stakeholders to study best practices, that group’s recommendations, because of its broad membership, will already carry a great deal of weight. Some actions you can take during and after this participatory research process can increase your chances of success. * Mobilize community opinion. Publicize the best practices you’ve found that seem to address the issues in your community. Emphasize the diverse nature of the group that found and recommended these practices for local use. * Alert funders to best practice possibilities. Pressures – or offers – from current or potential funders can help speed the adoption of new methods or programs. * Bring some of the people who originated or who use appropriate practices together with people in your community, especially some of those who oppose adopting those practices. In the discussion that takes place, questions can be raised and answered from practical experience, and much of the resistance might easily disappear.
The ideal situation here is to bring people from your community to see the actual best practice program in operation. That will give them the best idea of what it’s actually about and how it works. If distance, time, or other factors make that impossible, the next best is to bring the best-practice folks to your community. Again, if that’s also impossible, conversations by phone or e-mail, or distributing reading matter about the program might accomplish some of the same purpose. * Suggest that, rather than substituting a best practice for what it is already doing, an organization or group simply add it, perhaps on a limited basis. Having the two approaches running side by side may show them that the new practice actually does work better than the old.
Another possibility here is that side-by-side operation may demonstrate that the best practice isn’t a best practice for your situation. Best practice in Climate Change adaptation Climate Change with its impacts challenges regions, cities and municipalities. Depending on the specific characteristics, strategies and measures for adaptation are necessary to reduce vulnerability and to be able to face a sustainable future.In order to give an overview of possibilities how to adapt to Climate Change, this document aims to present best practice examples within the countries of the Baltic Sea Region and in additional chosen European countries where adaptation to Climate Change plays a decisive role. In this respect, the measures and strategies mentioned in the document are directly connected to impacts of Climate Change and Global Warming As lots of strategies and measures already exist and would be suitable for aspects of Climate Change, most of them nevertheless did not take into account the theme itself. Furthermore, this document does not include measures and strategies that have been introduced and developed within the BaltCICA project. Although they would follow the purpose of it, the document puts a focus on those strategies and measures which have been developed and implemented outside the project. The best practice examples are categorized in the fields “Coastal protection”, “Water Management”, “Settlement” and “Nature Conversation” as these would constitute the most imminent concerns within BaltCICA. Whereas the introducing table just gives an overview about where these categories are taken into account (dark markers), the tables in the following go into more detail. The document does not claim for an all encompassing collection of adaptation measures in the mentioned countries. During the research, several documents have been found which have not been translated into English yet. In this respect, the collection is limited to
English publications and documents openly accessible.

Adaptation of Best Practice The Experience of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada

This chapter discusses best practices and innovation drawing on some of the experiences of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). It distinguishes between best practices and innovation. Best practices are considered successful government practices that have evolved over a long period of time and continue to evolve by adjusting to changing situations and contexts, as opposed to an innovation, which is a new practice or experience. Under best practice, the chapter describes the successful adaptation of
Canadian best practices by other jurisdictions in Lithuania and China, and suggests how the success of these transfers can best be measured. The section on innovation uses material from the IPAC Award for Innovative Management established in 1990. It describes the award, looks at how innovations spread, and relates some successful adaptations of
Canadian innovations to other jurisdictions. The chapter concludes that the idea behind a specific innovation is more important than the innovation itself and calls for the establishment of a knowledge network of innovation to facilitate the successful transfer of new ideas.

The Lithuania–Canada Government Reform Project
In the late 1960s and early 70s, the Canadian federal and provincial governments began developing decision-making systems that integrated priority setting, policy-making, budgeting and planning systems. These systems, which have evolved over time and are still changing, are designed to help governments deliver their mandates and keep their promises (Bernier, Brownsey and Howlett, 2005).
Lithuania sought assistance from the Ontario government and IPAC in 1997. Its euphoria over independence was dissipating. Per capita incomes had fallen to two-thirds of pre-independence levels. Income inequality was rising. Governments lasted, on average, one year. Lithuania’s Baltic cousin, Estonia, had been selected for fast-tracking in the EU;
Lithuania had not. Cabinet meetings went on and on, dealing mainly with trivial matters and not priorities. The Ministry of Finance avoided requests for new funding of priorities and continued funding questionable programmes. The Prime Minister indicated that he did not know what happened with Cabinet decisions. The government of Lithuania was trying to avoid the excessive centrism it had experienced with Moscow but instead had retreated too far in the other direction, preventing the delivery of the government mandate. Lithuania sought help from the Ontario government and IPAC as a result of an Ontario government employee of Lithuanian origin having taken a leave of absence to work for the Lithuanian government in the early 1990s (Joseph Galimberti) The resulting reform project was funded by the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA), with IPAC as Executing Agency. By the fall of 2000 an integrated policy and fiscal planning system was in place, which subsequent governments have retained, institutionalized and improved. The following four key features define the system (Evans,
2005, pp. 9-10): A strategic planning committee (similar to Ontario’s Policy and Priorities Board), chaired by the prime minister, to oversee the priority-setting and budget process and review major policy issues.
A strategic planning system (modeled on Ontario’s business planning system), including:
• A government priority-setting exercise in advance of the budget process; five strategic policy priorities were approved by the Cabinet in spring 2000;
• Preparation of individual ministry strategic plans to reflect the government’s strategic priorities and ministry service-delivery priorities; and
• Public release of ministry strategic plans and agreement in future to report publicly results achieved versus the plans’ targets. An integrated fiscal-planning system, including:
• A macroeconomic plan developed in tandem with the priority-setting exercise; the plan included realistic aggregate revenue, expenditure and deficit targets, as well as a fiscal envelope to fund the strategic priorities;
• Individual ministry budget ceilings accompanying the budget circular’s instructions to ministries and agencies; and
• Instructions requiring ministries to demonstrate how their budget requests supported the government’s strategic priorities. A restructured Chancellery to reflect a shift in focus from an administrative to a strategic/ analytic organization. This included the creation of a Strategic Planning Unit to coordinate the planning process and liaise with the Ministry of Finance.
The project employed a practitioner-to-practitioner methodology. In the course of the project, 24 senior Ontario government officials, including the Secretary to the Cabinet, traveled to Lithuania to work with their counterparts in central and line agencies. A total of 23 Lithuanian political and administrative officials visited Canada. In the process, countless workshops were delivered and documents exchanged. Does this constitute a best practice? Gordon Evans, who was secured as the lead consultant to the project shortly after leaving his post as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet in Ontario’s Executive
Council, notes:
“To the degree that the Ontario-Lithuania collaboration is representative, it infers that interactions between two public services, with one assuming a mentor role, gravitate towards a best practices model. We export the system as it should be, warts removed. This arises not from any deAdaptation of Best Practices.
What was perhaps an exemplary practice for the Ontario government was a substantive reform for Lithuania. But how do we measure the success of a government reform such as this? Are there measures that capture the quality of policy management? (Evans,
2005.) Evans looked for measures that capture the quality of policy management at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and New Zealand,
UK and Canadian Cabinet Offices without finding any practical performance measures. As a result, Evans, along with Nick Manning of the World Bank, devised a figure indicating stages of executive policy unreliability along with a summary of policy unreliability indicators,

Public Policy Options Project China-Canada

The Public Policy Options Project (PPOP) is a responsive project designed to provide quick, targeted assistance to specific policy needs identified by the Chinese government.
Each approved project must represent a policy priority of the Chinese government. Since the inception of the project in 1996, about 50 sub-projects have been completed. This project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is co-managed by IPAC and the Conference Board of Canada, whose role is to link Canadian exemplary practices and policies to the policy priorities of the Chinese government. Each of these projects has matched senior management and policy staff from Chinese state and provincial governments, research institutes and academics with senior Canadian executives from the public, private, academic and NGO sectors.
For each of the sub-projects, policy reports are prepared and submitted to higher authorities, in most instances the State Council headed by the Premier. Policy recommendations are based on field studies in China, Canadian expert presentations in Canada and China, study tours to Canada, Canadian participation in conferences and seminars in China and exchanges of actual policy documents (e.g., draft legislation).

IPAC and the Award for Innovative Management
IPAC’s experience with innovation is based on its Award for Innovative Management, currently sponsored by IBM Canada, KPMG and the Public Service Commission of Canada.
The Award was launched in 1990 to enhance the image of the public sector; to recognize organizations and individuals for creative and innovative ways of doing things; to identify and publicize success stories in the public sector worthy of emulation; and to foster innovation. Table VII.1 outlines the annual themes and the number of submissions generated by each theme. The annual theme is based on the IPAC agenda, which is determined in part by a biennial survey of deputy ministers (heads of departments) of the federal and provincial governments as well as chief administrative officers of major municipalities, asking them to identify the key challenges facing public sector organizations over the next few years. AWARDS FOR INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT | Year | Theme | Number | 1990 | Service to the Public | 57 | 1991 | Empowerment | 68 | 1992 | Partnership Management | 103 | 1993 | Better with Less | 114 | 1994 | Re-shaping Government | 111 | 1995 | Making Diversity Work | 82 | 1996 | Mastering Change | 115 | 1997 | Connecting Citizens and Government | 93 | 1998 | Doing Things Differently | 153 | 1999 | Measurement and Recognition | 49 | 2000 | Collaboration: New Approaches to Policy and Management | 106 | 2001 | Developing the Public Service of Tomorrow | 104 | 2002 | Outside-In: Changing Government to Meet Client Needs | 133 | 2003 | In the Know: Managing Knowledge | 95 | 2004 | Pulling Against Gravity | 98 | 2005 | Public Service Without Borders | 69 | | Source: Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 2005 (www.ipac.ca/awards/innovation/index.html) | |

SUMMARY One way to attempt to ensure that you address community problems and issues as well as possible, is to promote the adoption and ensure the implementation of “best practices” methods or programs that have been proven successful elsewhere, and that have the capacity to be reproduced, or replicated . While this doesn’t guarantee success- not every intervention works in every community, and you may already have successful programs operating. Persuading the community to adopt best practices requires building credibility by assembling a multi-sector group including local officials and influential citizens, potential participants or beneficiaries of a proposed intervention or initiative

LEARNING AND INSIGHT

As mentioned above, not every best practice related to your issue is necessarily aimed at the same outcomes you’re working toward. In order to make sure that you’re choosing a practice that fits with your goals, your first steps should be to define what you want to do and how. * Define your issue. What exactly is it you want to address? If it’s a broad issue, are you addressing the whole thing, or just a part of it? If the issue is violence in the community, for instance, are you planning to make that your focus, or are you going to concentrate on youth violence, or domestic violence, or certain kinds of violent crime? Remember, as we’ll discuss. * Define the outcomes you intend to achieve in more detail below, that you need resources that match what you want to do. * . The best practice you choose should aim at the outcomes you’re interested in. If you’re trying to get at the causes of domestic violence, for instance, then you should be looking for a best practice that does specifically that, rather than one that simply reduces the incidence of domestic violence. The former is likely to include elements of community education, mentoring, peer support, counseling for abused children, etc., in addition to increased police training and enforcement and law or policy changes. A violence-reduction program might only include the training/enforcement and policy change pieces. It may be a highly effective program, but it won’t produce the outcomes you’re interested in.
This is also a place to consider philosophical issues. There may be highly effective programs that reach their goals through methods you’d prefer to avoid, or that are based on assumptions you disagree with. Community health education can be educator-centered and based solely on the transmission of information, for example, or it can be a partnership among educators and learners, involving active and experiential learning. Violence prevention can be purely a matter of rigid enforcement of strict laws and increased policing, or it can include outreach, community education, mentoring, parenting classes, etc. It’s important to choose a best practice that’s a good fit with the philosophy and goals you be

SOURCES
(1 )John J. Gunther Blue Ribbon Practices in Community Development. A listing and description of awardees for best practices among HUD (Dept. of Housing and Urban Development) fundees (2) Best practices in community health from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Service (3) A paper entitled "Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs" from the Centers for Disease Control. (4) Best practices in workforce development from the Employment Training Administration of the U.S. Dept. of Labor.