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In late May, Betsy Andersen’s 7-year-old son, Ezra, had a serious meltdown. He and his six-year-old sister Abby had been enjoying an online Zoom interaction with “Miss Eileen,” “Miss Savannah,” a couple of their colleagues, and a puppet. Betsy Andersen “I could see him trailing off and then he started crying,” says Andersen, who lives in Mundelein, Illinois. But before she swooped in, she heard Miss Eileen talking to him: “She was saying ‘Hey, I see you’re having some big emotions.” Speaking...

From California Department of Public Health, July 2020 In 2018, recognizing an alarming statewide gap in Black infant mortality, the state Legislature passed the Budget Act of 2018 which included the establishment of the California Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI) within the Department of Public Health. While declines in infant mortality have been achieved, the statewide mortality rate for Black infants continues to be two to four times higher than rates for other groups. The PEI aims to...

By Chris Lyttle, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 13, 2020 It's hard to describe water to a fish while it’s swimming in it. I was that fish, growing up in a working-class, majority Black community in southwest Ohio. For instance, it hadn’t occurred to me to question why my school had metal detectors and armed police officers at every entrance yet so few textbooks that students had no choice but to share. Or why we had to travel to find affordable fresh vegetables while unhealthy food...

Service providers and the children, youth, and families whom they serve have long faced system barriers which often present more challenges than solutions. In today’s climate, the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated many of these issues, forcing child and youth-serving providers to find unique ways to meet the needs of individuals and communities. For many reasons, the relevance and timing of the arrival of the Virginia HEALS model of service delivery could not have been more perfect.

Providers, do you need more laptops, desktops, software licenses, webcams, cell phones, or PPE for your telehealth outreach? If so, check out this request for applications (PDF) from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). The state is using federal grant funding to help organizations develop, enhance and/or expand their facility’s telehealth infrastructure to address the needs of safety net patients with substance use disorder and/or mental health disorders. The deadline...

[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she will post the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! — Jane Stevens] Heim CM, Entringer S, Buss C. Translating basic research knowledge on the biological embedding of early-life stress into novel approaches for the developmental...

School nurses have been industrious during COVID-19, using innovative skills to do one of the things we do best, providing information for our families. Everyone's health literacy has been tested through the pandemic. The messaging from our most trusted institutions like the CDC has been confusing and ever-changing. As states have released vague return to school guidelines, it is clear that the details for keeping our students and staff safe will depend on each school district to create...

From VetoViolence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2020 New Training Helps Pediatric Medical Providers Recognize and Prevent ACEs You’re invited to explore the new Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Training for Pediatric Medical Providers . This training focuses on the central role that pediatric medical providers play in understanding, recognizing, preventing, and treating ACEs and their consequences. Lesson topics include: The Biological Impact of ACEs The...

Whether or not to screen for ACEs in primary care is an important debate—and I hear and respect the passion from both sides of the argument. I fall in the “pro-ACE assessments” camp, but with some important caveats. I think that assessments for ACEs are dramatically different from screening for autism or developmental delays. In my opinion, assessments for ACEs in primary care should be primarily about building relationships.

ACEs Connection is proud to announce we have reached 200 Speakers & Trainers participants in the ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau! What is the ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau? The ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau is a service that provides subscribers of ACEsConnection a Database of ACEs speakers and trainers for hire. The development of the Speakers & Trainers Bureau was in response to a great need expressed by our communities. ACEs...

Get Trained and Get Paid. Medi-Cal Providers Must Attest by July 1 to Continue Receiving ACE Screening Payments! Have you taken the ACEs Aware training on ACE screening? Starting July 1, 2020, you must self-attest to completing the training to continue receiving Medi-Cal payment for ACE screening. Attestation is simple and takes one quick form. Beginning July 1, 2020, providers must attest to completing a certified core ACEs Aware provider training to continue receiving reimbursement for...

Recently a family doc published a "Viewpoint" in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting restraint and caution in using the ACEs screening tool (Campbell TL. Viewpoint, Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Primary Care: A Cautionary Note , JAMA Published Online: May 28, 2020, doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4365) because (1) there were no evidenced based treatments, (2) asking the questions would offend patients and parents, and (3) risk of labeling people with such...