Strategies

Prohibit criminal history questions on job applications and postpone background checks

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

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

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

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

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.

Provide industry-focused education and job training based on the needs of regional employers within specific sectors

Support individual and group use of internet-based tools to receive news, communicate or share information, collaborate on ideas, mobilize networks, and make collective decisions

Coordinate access to services across delivery systems and disciplinary boundaries (e.g., housing, disability, physical health, mental health, child welfare, workforce services, etc.)

Provide short-term employment opportunities for youth, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds