Two years ago, instead of retiring as planned, Dave Ellis decided to apply for the new position of “executive on loan” to create and lead the New Jersey Office of Resilience (OoR) in the Department of Children and Families (DCF). It is the first state-level office to integrate policies and practices based on the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences. His appointment electrified the national PACEs movement, not only because he was a pioneer in the movement, but because the state was willing to make some bold moves.
On Friday, DCF announced that Ellis is leaving May 31, at the end of his two-year contract. Although he may be leaving New Jersey, his commitment to integrating policies and practices based on PACEs science, especially in communities, hasn’t waned. He’s already received inquiries from other states and is adding to his busy consulting schedule.
In reaction to the announcement, a chorus of “oh nooooo’s” began echoing throughout New Jersey as well as other states. Yesterday, Ellis and I had a Zoom call to talk about his tenure and departure.
“I refuse to be upset,” says Ellis, a plain-speaking, truth-talking, advocate with an insatiable curiosity, “mainly because I knew from the very beginning that this was a two-year opportunity. It's always been two years. I kept telling folks, it's a two-year grant position.”
His intention for the two years was simple: “To come to New Jersey, to recognize the great work already happening, to move the state into a position of national recognition and to give the community the ability to actually implement things that it believes will work. I also wanted to give local communities a voice. With the $3-million micro-grant process that we’ve launched, the amazing ideas that communities have come up with, and the upcoming People's Gathering in September, the state is poised to truly exhibit what it looks like to partner with communities most impacted by adversity.”
How NJ laid the groundwork
Three foundations and DCF created a sound foundation for Ellis arrival so that he could hit the ground running. In 2018, The Nicholson Foundation, the Burke Foundation and the Turrell Fund worked with DCF to begin the process of launching the Office of Resilience. Ellis was chosen to lead the office; he is not a state employee—his salary is paid by the foundations. His five team members are paid by the state.
In two short years, the Office of Resilience developed the NJ ACEs Statewide Action Plan; a statewide awareness campaign, Actions4ACEs, that targets educators and law enforcement; a healing-centered education pilot in 75 school districts; and has provided in-depth training for around 4,000 people through ACE Interface.
When they began their work in 2020, “DCF had little contact with the Native American community,” says Ellis. “Not until Dwana Young on my staff went out there and kept beating on doors. Now we're connected to all three tribes and the New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs. That’s important because the Indigenous populations across the country are No. 1 in being disproportionally impacted by ACEs.”
Great accomplishments, and more work to do
“We've done so much, and yet there's so much left to do,” says Ellis.
Ellis worked with DCF’s grant and contract units to use $3 million in federal funding to design a system of awarding microgrants. “We awarded $3 million to three nonprofits to distribute through a process that will allow small agencies and individuals to submit their ideas for consideration,” says Ellis. “A selection committee made up of Office of Resilience staff, DCF staff, the three awarded agencies and community members will select the ideas to be funded.”
The reporting process will be unlike most grants, notes Ellis. “I told them it’s quite simple,” he says. “I'm interested in what we are learning. Whether you fail or succeed, that's the wrong question. It’s not about how many you served. If you're succeeding, I’m more interested in what are you learning? If you're failing, what are you learning? And how do we share all of that with community so that we all learn, and we can all move forward together?”
All people who participate in the grants— funders, organizations and individuals alike—have been or will be trained in PACEs science, so that it becomes part of the DNA of the work, he says. Unless people who administer the funds and carry out the projects do the difficult work of understanding their own childhood trauma, they can’t be as successful as they could be. Training will continue to expand: With the support of two small grants from foundations, a cohort of trainers is being coached to train all 6,700 DCF staff in PACEs science.
Long-term goals for a long-term effort
Ellis’ main concerns are ensuring sustainability of the work over the next couple of decades and making sure the work is centered in communities. “How do I put this office in a position so that 10 years from now, 20 years from now this is still relevant work? That's why I wanted things grounded in community so that whatever we did, the community then had the ability to do it themselves.”
The state, foundations, communities need to invest in integrating PACEs science in communities and state agencies for the next 10 to 20 years, he says: “You have to invest for the long haul. We tend to invest for the short term rather than looking at the long game which, in this work, is required to actually prevent ACEs and increased PCEs (positive childhood experiences.” Only in this way can the state solve its most intractable problems.
“There's a request into the governor for a $10-million allotment over three years of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to stabilize this office outside of DCF,” says Elllis. “Because if this effort stays only in one state agency as a statewide initiative, it becomes associated just with that agency. The design, from my perspective has always been, that the OoR in DCF would continue, but that there would be a statewide, much larger umbrella that would be outside of DCF.” The working name of the organization is the Healing NJ Together Technical Assistance Center. Suggestions for its location include being housed at a university, creating it as a standalone nonprofit, or as part of the state extension office. That will be determined after Ellis’ departure.
He would like to see more involvement from the legislature. “There is no state appropriation at this time,” he explains. And yet, this is a statewide initiative. It began as a governor's initiative. A lot of the work going forward will require state support specifically to support the office."
And, above all, communities need to continue to be at the center and foundation of the work. “You know who I mean by community,” he points out. “Those people who are most directly impacted need to be involved in all decisions about them. That's not what the traditional model is, but I believe that unless until we engage with them, this change isn't going to happen.
“What I really want to see us figure out is how to move from a place where we're doing harm and to think about how we prevent it,” he continues. “How do we not just heal from childhood adversities and their effects, but how do we prevent them from occurring? That is the ultimate goal. It's the one thing that I won't stop fighting for. We can’t focus on only healing because that means that we're allowing all of these things to continue."
As we talk, in the background Ellis’ wife is busy packing boxes. “Somebody asked me the other day: Are you okay?” Ellis muses. “I'm better than okay. I feel good that when I leave here, and there's somebody younger who comes in, I will certainly work to help them transition and give them whatever I can. But I'm not going to tell them how to do this job. I want them to do it their way.”
Over a relative short time, he, his team, the state departments he’s worked with and the communities he’s inspired have made huge strides in New Jersey. At the end of this month, he and his wife will move to Arizona where they’re building a house. And after a two-week vacation in Portugal, he’ll return to figure out his next challenge.
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