Rural Project Examples Addressing Families - Rural Health Information Hub

Helping Kids PROSPER
Updated/reviewed January 2023

Need: An approach to support sustained, quality delivery of evidence-based programs for youth and families in rural communities.
Intervention: PROSPER, a program delivery system, guides communities in implementing evidence-based programs that build youth competencies, improve family functioning, and prevent risky behaviors, particularly substance use.
Results: Youth in PROSPER communities reported delayed initiation of a variety of substances, lower levels of other behavioral problems, and improvements in family functioning and other life skills.

Hidalgo Medical Services – Family Support Program
Updated/reviewed April 2023

Need: To reduce health disparities in two rural/frontier counties in southwest New Mexico.
Intervention: Community health workers worked with clients to help them better manage their health and promote awareness of healthy lifestyle options in the community.
Results: Better health outcomes for patients.

Parent Partners
Updated/reviewed March 2023

Need: To support parents whose children have been removed from the home so that the parents can make the changes needed for the children to return safely home.
Intervention: A statewide program in Iowa pairs these parents with mentors who have successfully navigated their own child welfare cases.
Results: Participants' children were more likely to return home than non-participants' children and participants were less likely to have another child removal within a year of the child coming home.

Schools That Care
Updated/reviewed August 2022

Need: To provide mental health services to rural Kansas students and their families.
Intervention: The Schools That Care project provides mental health treatment and case management as well as community education events.
Results: From 2018 to 2021, 3,456 individuals participated in health education and counseling activities offered to the public, and 964 individuals and 303 families received direct services through the Family Advocate.

Youth4Health
Updated/reviewed December 2019

Need: To educate youth about obesity and healthy lifestyle choices.
Intervention: An educational program about healthy living was implemented in Lincoln and Claiborne Parishes in Louisiana for youth ages 9-18.
Results: Youth4Health program produced greater awareness and participation in healthier lifestyles by target youth and their families, as well as church congregations.

Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota
Updated/reviewed November 2023

Need: To provide victims of domestic violence and sexual assault a safe space, advocacy, education, and family support services.
Intervention: Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota provides emergency/transitional housing, support and referral services, family visitation services, and community education.
Results: In 2022, Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota answered 350 crisis calls, provided shelter for 132 survivors, and advocated for 94 survivors.

One Health Recovery Doulas
Added October 2023

Need: To support pregnant and parenting women with a history of substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorders in rural areas of Montana.
Intervention: One Health, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), developed a team of "recovery doulas" – individuals who are dual-certified as doulas and peer-support specialists. The One Health recovery doula program offers group and individual services to women and their partners from pregnancy through the first years of parenthood.
Results: A team of nine recovery doulas (or doulas-in-training) employed by One Health offer services in ten rural Montana counties. Recovery doulas have provided essential support to women with substance use disorder, survivors of sexual abuse, unhoused individuals, and individuals facing other complex challenges.

Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care (ECCCC)
Updated/reviewed July 2023

Need: To bring needed child care to rural Mercer County, North Dakota.
Intervention: A nonprofit cooperative provides part-time and full-time child care.
Results: ECCCC currently has about 60 children enrolled, but it had 86 children at the height of its enrollment history.

The Hunger Coalition's Bloom Truck and Bloom Markets
Added July 2023

Need: To improve access to healthy, affordable food for low-income families and children in Blaine County, Idaho in a stigma-free way.
Intervention: A truck that delivers free, healthy meals to kids in local neighborhoods and a farm stand selling fresh produce at heavily discounted rates.
Results: The Bloom Truck delivers meals to between 250 and 400 children each summer, with 1,599 meals served in June of 2023.

SJRC Texas Belong Community-Based Care (CBC)
Added June 2023

Need: To develop a child welfare system that provides rural Texas communities with flexibility, authority, and adaptability to improve services for children and families.
Intervention: SJRC Texas's division Belong is the lead provider for Community-Based Care, which oversees foster and kinship care, case management, reunification services, and prevention services in the South Central and Hill Country regions of Texas.
Results: Since October 2021, SJRC Texas Belong CBC has served over 1,100 children and young adults and provided over 700 home and virtual visits.

Rural Project Examples: Families