The Center for Social Development provided editorial support to facilitate the development of policy briefs for the September 2016 conference, Social Innovation for America’s Renewal: Ideas, Evidence, Action
THEME I: INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY WELL-BEING
∙ Ensure Healthy Development for All Youth – By unleashing the power of prevention through widespread use of proven approaches, we can prevent behavioral health problems and help all youth grow up to become healthy, productive adults.
∙ Close the Health Gap – Innovative and evidence-based social strategies can improve health care, stem alcohol misuse, and lead to broad gains in the health of our entire society.
∙ Stop Family Violence – Proven interventions can prevent abuse, identify abuse sooner, and help families survive and thrive by breaking the cycle of violence or finding safe alternatives.
∙ Advance Long and Productive Lives – Fuller engagement in education and productive activities can generate a wealth of benefits, including better health, greater financial security, and a more vital society.
THEME II: STRONGER SOCIAL FABRIC
∙ Eradicate Social Isolation – Social isolation is a silent killer, and our challenge is to promote effective ways to deepen social connections and community for people of all ages.
∙ End Homelessness – This challenge is to increase access to affordable housing and rental subsidies, expand proven approaches and adapt innovations for new populations.
∙ Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment – Changes posing profound risks to humans require new partnerships, deep engagement with local communities, and innovations to strengthen individual and collective assets.
∙ Harness Technology for Social Good – New technologies can be deployed to strategically target social spending, speed development of effective programs, and bring a wider array of help to more communities.
THEME III: JUST SOCIETY
∙ Promote Smart Decarceration – A proactive, evidence-based strategy can dramatically reduce the number of people who are imprisoned and enable the nation to embrace a more effective, just approach to public safety.
∙ Reduce Extreme Economic Inequality – We can correct the broad inequality of wealth and income through a variety of innovative means related to wages and tax benefits, and also strive for greater access to education.
∙ Build Financial Capability for All – We can significantly reduce the effects of poverty by adopting policies that bolster lifelong income and safe retirement accounts; expand workforce training; and provide financial literacy and access to quality affordable financial services.
∙ Achieve Equal Opportunity and Justice – Addressing racial and social injustices, dismantling inequality, exposing unfair practices, and accepting the superdiversity of the population will advance this challenge.