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California PACEs Action

Childhood adversity screenings are just one part of an effective policy response to childhood trauma [childtrends.org]

 

By David Murphey and Jessica Dym Bartlett, Child Trends, July 9, 2019.

Exposure to adversity in childhood is widespread and can pose a serious threat to individual health and well-being over the life course. By age 18, nearly half (45 percent) of children in the United States have had at least one adverse experience; among young children and other vulnerable subgroups, the prevalence is much higher. Childhood adversity is defined as one or more stressful events or conditions that can threaten a child’s sense of safety and negatively affect the child’s developing brain, physical and mental health, and behavior. Examples of common childhood adversities include abuse and neglect, living with a parent with mental illness or a substance abuse disorder, or witnessing violence.

Amid increasing public awareness and concern about the harmful consequences of early adversity, policymakers in a number of states are calling for routine screening of individual children—in pediatric care, home visiting programs, early care and education, schools, and other child and family service settings—using the short list of adversities included in the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study. As this movement gains traction, it is essential for policymakers to understand the limitations of this approach, as well as its potential for unintended consequences. These include:

  • The potential for re-traumatizing children and families
  • Contributing to stigma and a deficits focus
  • The lack of age- and culture-sensitive screening tools
  • A misleadingly narrow conception of adversity


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Dear Marianne,

Thank you so much for sharing this article. It expresses so many of my concerns as CA goes forth with plans to administer the ACEs quiz on a much broader scale.

Trauma Informed Care and Trauma sensitivity needs to be onboard when working alongside this very valiable ADJUNCT diagnostic tool of the ACEs quiz.

Recently my 21 year old experienced a seizure for the first time. Just going through the process with her of the Kaiser ER, the very misattuned bedside manner of the Neurologist, weeks to wait for an EEG and weeks to wait for the reading of the EEG and consult from the Neurologist...caused me to reflect on the importance of handling the ACEs quiz with sensitivity and compassion. 

Misattuned facilitators of the quiz can cause more damage than the good that this diagnostic tool can provide.

This article spoke to so many of those points of concern that need to be addressed as we move forward as a State that has very heartful intentions at its core.

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