CA Surgeon General and DHCS Launch ACEs Aware Initiative and Website

Gail Kennedy 12/5/193:13 PM

Curious about California moving forward on ACEs screening, and preventing and mitigating toxic stress in California residents?

Beginning January 1, 2020, California will begin reimbursing Medi-Cal providers for their participation in this new statewide effort known as the ACEs Aware Initiative. California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris in partnership with the Department of Health Care Services has launched the ACEs Aware website, which includes:

Fact sheets about ACEs Aware, a FAQ, and the science of ACEs and toxic stress.
A 'Treat' section, which includes Clinical Assessment & Treatment Planning
A section on clinical workflow and algorithm developed by the Clinical Advisory Committee.
A compilation of resources, from the American Academy of Pediatrics and others.

Stay tuned for a release of a recording of the Dec 4th webinar about the ACEs Aware initiative, co-hosted by California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Department of Health Care Services Medical Director, Dr. Karen Mark. We'll post it here once it is available.

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Calista ScottMember

I became interested in human development in graduate school. I have always been impressed with the report of the Joint Commission on the Mental Health of Children in the early 1970s. For healthy development, they wrote, society must consider both human development and the environment in which a child lives, learns and shapes himself.

As for ACES, my concern is with Diaper Need, a situation where one in three families struggle to provide an adequate supply of diapers to keep their babies clean, dry and healthy. The original Adverse Childhood Experiences study includes three categories of adverse experiences, one of which is neglect. Not having a clean diaper for a baby (or keeping a baby in one diaper for the whole day) is incontestably physical neglect. Mothers love their babies and being in the position of wondering where the next diaper is coming from is anxiety producing and depressing. In these cases the "smiling face" disappears; and noticing and responding to her baby's cues are negatively impacted. This is emotional neglect. We know from early "experiments", that babies who were physically well taken care of, but whose caretakers were forbidden to speak to or interact with the babies, failed to thrive; even died.

Calista Scott, MSN, Director, Member of the National Diaper Bank Network

Diaper Bank of Skagit County, WA

12/9/191:13 AM