As I do my community talks and agency trainings I always have to remember that for many people the phrase, “adverse childhood experiences” requires an explanation. Like many of you, I go down the list of the ten ACEs in a group setting and I find people nodding in recognition. Some start crying.
This leads to a discussion about how each of these ten adverse experiences might be prevented. This is a much longer and more complex discussion. I explain that ACEs prevention may mean increasing awareness of childhood adversity, trauma and maltreatment. I can mean working to ensure that the community’s current behavioral health care is trauma-informed.
For other agencies, ACEs prevention may mean working to increase the quality and quantity of key family-friendly services to strengthen family systems. In my state of New Mexico, we have a long history of poverty, a lack of resources and high rates of ACEs. More than a quarter of our adult population reported three or more ACEs on a Dep’t of Health survey.
One of the biggest concerns I hear from participants in my Data Leaders for Child Welfare program is that our rural child welfare offices have no local behavioral health care services to refer clients to.
This is a very important moment for the 200+ programs across the nation focused on preventing ACEs. We are doing vital work building awareness among the public and lawmakers. We are advocates for our most vulnerable children and families. We are partners with local social workers, educators and health care providers, sharing resources and insights. With a collaborative approach, our community work can ensure that our children and parents have access to the resources that help families thrive and promote safe, healthy and resilient childhoods.
There is no one definition of ACEs prevention as all our projects are different. We can safely say that all our work has one thing is common: a deep desire to make every child's safety a priority.
Comments (0)