Strategies

Establish publicly funded investment accounts for every newborn, accessible at age 18

Prohibit criminal history questions on job applications and postpone background checks

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings

Provide basic skills (e.g., reading, math, writing, English language, or soft skills) and industry-specific training with other supports; also called occupationally contextualized basic education programs

Expand broadband availability and adoption in unserved and underserved areas through initiatives that address infrastructure and cost barriers

Provide occupation-specific training for low-skilled individuals in high-growth industries, with education and supports, usually with stackable credentials and work experience opportunities

Issue certificates of employability to individuals with criminal convictions who have met pre-specified standards of rehabilitation; also called certificates of relief, reentry, good conduct, rehabilitation, recovery, etc.

Establish publicly financed schools that are not subject to many of the regulations that govern traditional public schools, such as staffing, curriculum, and budgeting requirements.

Build assets through child development accounts (CDAs) with contributions from a sponsoring organization, such as government agencies or nonprofits, and family, friends; also called children’s savings accounts (CSAs)

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Support locally-based visual, media, and performing arts initiatives for children and adults; also called participatory arts programs

Provide space to promote socializing among community members and offer programs and services such as recreational or educational activities, counseling or support services

Support financial institutions providing services to underserved and disadvantaged communities

Implement a coordinated effort to overhaul school operation, integrating curriculum, instruction, professional development, parent involvement, classroom and school management; also called school-wide or whole school reform

Provide free and confidential counseling and service referrals via telephone-based conversation, web-based chat, or text message to individuals in crisis, particularly those with severe mental health concerns

Establish an ongoing relationship between an older youth or young adult and a younger child or adolescent, usually an elementary or middle school student

Provide education and training sessions with parent-child activities and family meals for youth, parents, and care providers

Offer debt advice from trained providers to tenants with unpaid, overdue rent to help repay debt and increase financial literacy

Regulate use of e-cigarettes via age, sales and marketing restrictions, expanded smoke-free air policies in public and private worksites and designated spaces, etc.

Provide confidential worksite-based counseling and referrals to employees to address personal and workplace challenges

Support fathers’ active involvement in child rearing via various father-focused or family-focused interventions

Provide education on basic budgeting, bank use, credit management, bankruptcy, credit building and counseling, homeownership, retirement, divorce, etc.

Provide home visiting services to families who are at risk for adverse childhood experiences, starting prenatally or right after birth and continuing for three to five years

Offer programs to help individuals without a high school diploma or its equivalent achieve a high school equivalency credential

Provided high quality preschool with home visiting to African-American children from families with low incomes with an emphasis on active learning in Ypsilanti, Michigan

Apologize for discriminatory housing policies; increase subsidies, financing, and paths to homeownership for people of color; and invest in systematically disadvantaged neighborhoods

Support subsidized asset accumulation programs in which deposits by participants with low and moderate incomes are matched by program sponsors; withdrawals must be used for qualified expenses to retain matching funds

Establish policies, plans, and programs that meet the needs of all residents of a community, especially children and older adults, and promote interaction and cooperation between individuals of different generations

Establish a relationship between an older adult and a child, adolescent, or college student through social interactions or a variety of educational and art activities

Return the rights to land, property, and resources to Native people as part of policies and initiatives that promote tribal sovereignty

Delay school start times for middle and high schools to better align with adolescent sleep-wake cycles; often until after 8:30 or 9:00 a.m.

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels

Support programs that provide matched dollar incentives for low or moderate income individuals to place some or all of their tax refund in a savings account

Provide an 8 or 12 hour training to educate laypeople about how to assist individuals with mental health problems or at risk for problems such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders

Support programs that provide small loans, usually to individuals with lower incomes, to start or expand a small business, often with business development training and other technical assistance

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Establish voluntary formal groups of residents who work together to create a unified voice, enhance living conditions in their neighborhood, and address neighborhood concerns

Provided work supports for low income individuals and families (e.g., job search assistance, transitional jobs, subsidized child care, health insurance, etc.); participants worked at least 30 hours/week

Allow community members to gather, socialize, walk, run, bike, skate, etc. on streets temporarily to closed to motorized traffic; also called Ciclovía programs

Support outdoor pursuits and adventure-based activities that emphasize inter- and intra-personal growth through overcoming obstacles (e.g., challenge courses, wilderness excursions, etc.)

Require employers in an affected jurisdiction to provide paid time off for employees to use when ill or injured

Support home visits that teach parents about early childhood development and effective parenting strategies, with child development screenings, parental meetings, and links to community resources

Engage community members to determine how public budgets are spent, ideally to improve neighborhood conditions and reduce inequality.

Regulate short-term loans that must be repaid by a borrower’s next pay day via bans, caps on maximum interest rates and loan amounts, or require minimum loan terms and credit cost

Support quality improvement efforts in early child care and preschool via financial incentives, standards, processes to monitor standards and ensure compliance, etc.

Create a school culture of high behavioral and academic expectations, with intense tutoring, increased teacher performance feedback, lengthened instruction time, and health care services

Bring people with diverse values and perspectives together to engage in facilitated, inclusive, and informed dialogues about a topic of public concern. Examples include Citizens’ Initiative Reviews, deliberative polling, citizen juries, and citizen’s assemblies.

Lend materials, offer gathering space, and provide educational, civic, and social programming; open to the community and publicly funded

Offer a refundable tax credit to working families with qualifying children or other dependents that receive care outside the home (e.g., a spouse with disabilities)

Apologize for the history and legacy of slavery and provide direct payments or community investments to Black descendants of people enslaved in the U.S.