Profiles of statewide and major local ACEs initiatives in the 50 states and the District of Columbia are now available from ACEs Connection. You’ll learn about other states and maybe even a few things about your own. This series is just the start of curating highlights of the most significant initiatives across the country. The next iteration will provide even more details.
How to use this series: The invaluable information many of you provided to our ACEs Connection team on what is happening in your states was synthesized into easy-to-use one-pagers for multiple uses. They can be used:
- to inform elected officials and other policymakers about community-based initiatives,
- to provide an overview of state and local activities to potential partners (organizations and individuals),
- to respond to time-sensitive requests from the members of media who need succinct highlights of state activities,
- and to learn what is going on in other states and communities.
We suggest that you pursue the profiles of other states to get program and policy ideas—and inspiration—from around the country. Tap into existing resources to accelerate your progress in building community initiatives locally.
Previewed at the NGA Winter Meeting. The profiles were just featured at the National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting in Washington, DC at a Feb. 24 session for First Spouses titled “ACEs and Lifelong Health and Well-Being: A Case for Trauma-Informed Communities.”
First spouses from a majority of states participated in the half-day session that featured Dr. Robert Anda, co-principal investigator of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, and co-founder of ACE Interface; Illinois First Lady Diana Rauner, president of Ounce of Prevention Fund; and Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker. Lauren Baker, Massachusetts First Lady and chair of the NGA Spouses’ Leadership Committee, moderated the session.
Elizabeth Hudson, director of the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health, led breakout group discussions to deepen understanding of trauma-informed concepts and how they are applied in various scenarios in child care practices, homelessness, child welfare/foster care, addiction services, public spaces, and commercial setting (e.g., a convenience store). The reports from the groups included very specific ways that policies and practices change when they are trauma-informed.
Hudson ended the meeting by outlining specific ways that First Spouses could take action when they return to their states. The first suggestion was to contact at least one organization or person in their state who is working to reduce ACEs, implement trauma-informed care, and or build community resilience. She referred the group to the ACEs Connection State Profiles for ideas. [We acknowledge with appreciation the inspiration for these profiles that was provided by First Lady Tonette Walker and Elizabeth Hudson who developed similar state fact sheets for the 11-state meeting of First Spouses in September, 2017.]
What’s next? We consider the profiles to be “living documents” that reflect the nature of the ever-changing, dynamic ACEs initiatives themselves. You are encouraged to provide updates, additions, and corrections, as well as ideas for new categories going forward.
If you have suggestions or corrections for a specific state, please provide them in the comment section of that particular state profile, which you can find a link to on this post. Any general suggestions about the series overall should be made in the comment section of that main post. Once we have more of your input, we’ll provide information about how the process of creating the next series will unfold over the next two or three months.
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