In my current role as PACEs Connection’s fundraiser, foundations often ask: What are PACEs Connection’s accomplishments? Because our strategy is to “create constellations, not stars”, it is difficult to identify accomplishments that are ours alone. We can say that PACEs Connection is one of the leaders of the PACEs movement. It is the largest network and provides the information and the glue that holds people, organizations, and communities together as we travel on this 20- to 40-year journey to solve our most intractable problems. By actively making connections, it really helps keep people from reinventing the wheel by linking those who have implemented good ideas with those who want to.
Here’s an example of how “create-constellations-not-stars” works: In 2012, I wrote an article about Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, an alternative school whose principal at that time, Jim Sporleder, integrated trauma-informed practices and policies based on PACEs science. In the first year, suspensions dropped 85%, expulsions 40%. Amazing. Many people agreed: The article went viral twice, with more than 825,000 total page views. This inspired the late Jamie Redford of KPJR Films to produce a documentary, Paper Tigers, for which then-ACEs Connection was an advisor (we became PACEs Connection in 2021).
The documentary also went viral and was screened in tens of thousands of communities across the U.S. and around the world. We worked with KPJR Films on virtual screenings; the documentary was eventually made available on iTunes. Teri Barila, who led the Children’s Resilience Initiative in Walla Walla then (it’s now the Community Resilience Initiative) and was instrumental in educating Sporleder about ACEs, launched an annual education conference (Beyond Paper Tigers) attended by hundreds. This movement continues to grow and now supports at least three major annual national conferences that attract thousands of educators. Sporleder began traveling the country to spread the word about ACEs science and trauma-informed practices. The PACEs in Education community on PACEsConnection.com has nearly 3,000 members. The Trauma-Informed Educators Network on Facebook, which PACEs Connection’s Director of Communities Mathew Portell founded, has more than 30,000 members from 100+ countries.
It’s safe to say that if that article had never been written, the education community wouldn’t have embraced the science of adverse childhood experiences so widely and so quickly. Sporleder describes the onslaught of requests for training after my article appeared and especially when Paper Tigers debuted as “a thirst” for learning how to replace blame, shame and punishment to change kids’ behavior with understanding, nurturing and healing. The results for the schools that embraced the science and data-based approach: Few or no expulsions or suspensions, plummeting absenteeism, an increase in kids’ grades, test scores, and graduation rates.
But our work is just beginning.
“We had a tremendous momentum going,” Sporleder told me this morning. “COVID was a real disruption to the movement. I don’t see the thirst like I did before.”
He now sees kids that are dysregulated by a combination of the trauma of COVID as well as the ACEs they experience in their own households. Now that they’re back in school, many are having what the education community traditionally calls “behavior problems”.
“Our teachers, who are suffering from burn-out and COVID trauma themselves,” says Sporleder, “don’t know what to do. They’re defaulting back to punishment.”
So, could we regain that momentum if PACEs Connection disappears for lack of funding? Without PACEs Connection, progress would certainly be delayed. Many people are regarding PACEs science as useless or casting it aside to pursue the next shiny object. Others are calling trauma-informed education a fad. Part of that is because many organizations that jumped into trauma-informed training promised that an organization could become trauma-informed in a day-long training and see significant results. It’s just not possible.
I need and want to write solution-oriented articles about the schools that have done the hard work to overcome the hump of resistance, are tracking their progress with data, are making sure that new hires—teachers, staff and principals—are steeped in PACEs science and can accurately assess trauma-informed programs for their effectiveness. I need to write articles that expose the trainers who promise organizations that they can become trauma-informed in a day or without ever mentioning PACEs science. It’s not possible. I need to write a consumer's guide to choosing trauma-informed trainers. I need and want to write articles about the same things that are happening in other sectors: criminal justice, business/corporate, human resources, health areas besides pediatrics, government, politics, journalism, the faith-based community, etc.
That’s my main job in this movement, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it once our funding challenge of $3.2 million over the next three years is achieved. PACEs Connection staff members all have their roles in this organization, from network manager to CEO and all in between. All of you, our members of PACEs Connection, have your own roles in how you’re integrating PACEs science in your families, your organizations, your communities, and your places of worship. As I said above: Constellations, not stars.
And there’s one critical task I ask of you in your role as a member of PACEs Connection: Please support PACEs Connection! As I wrote last week: PACEs Connection needs bold funders who are in this for the long haul!
WE NEED MEMBERS WHO ARE WILLING AND ABLE TO DONATE MONEY!!! (Some PACEs Connection members remarked that I didn’t emphasize that enough last week.) Whatever you can afford will certainly help. Since last week, we’ve had a few members already donate significant amounts ($5,000 to $10,000). For that, we are extremely grateful. DONATE HERE!
AND WE NEED MEMBERS WHO CAN CONNECT US WITH FUNDERS—foundations, corporate givers, individuals—who are in the position of providing large donations. Please reach out to them and explain what our PACEs/trauma-informed movement has already achieved and can achieve, with their partnership and assistance.
If you have questions, or want to connect us with a funder, email me at jstevens@pacesconnection.com or call 707-495-1112.
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