Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...

Connections Matter is a community effort. We want everyone to know that fostering caring relationships with the children, families and adults in your life matters to developing healthy brains and thriving communities. Connections Matter will kick off...

Since the launch of Connections Matter earlier this fall, more than 250 community members and professionals have been trained in the Connections Matter presentation. Additional train the trainers are planned for December and January across the state....

Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...

The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...

Every day connections are far more important than we ever believed. Caring relationships can give children a great start. They can help people with a history of trauma heal. They can improve the health of our neighbors and the well-being of families....

ArtForce Iowa is a 501c3 non-profit that was founded in 2012 by a group of concerned citizens, with a mission to transform youth in need through art. Working primarily with youth who have had involvement in the juvenile or family court system, or immigrant, refugee and first-generation American youth who have experienced violence and trauma, the ArtForce Iowa staff team recognized in 2017 that they were not doing everything they could for themselves or their students. That is when Executive...

  ACES: Building a Resilient Community Childhood trauma has affected the majority of people in our community.  Specific family problems as well as child abuse and neglect (summarized as Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACEs) have been shown...

The Des Moines Business Record featured an article, " Initiative to build on child trauma research,"  highlighting the upcoming Connections Matter campaign.   Click here to view the article.

The Central Iowa ACEs 360 Steering Committee approved a strategic plan and new coalition structure at their June meeting. The strategic plan follows the Spectrum of Prevention framework from the Prevention Institute to ensure a multi-faceted,...

Registration for the Connections Matter train-the-presenter workshop on January 12th in Des Moines is now open. Please note, this workshop now qualifies for continuing education credits in health care fields! You can sign up through our website at www.connectionsmatter.org/training . Registration is limited so please sign-up early. We hope to see you there!

Connections Matter is gaining interest in central Iowa, statewide and beyond. Are you interested in learning more about the community movement and how you can get involved?  This webinar presentation explains the origins of the Connections Matter...

On Tuesday, June 16, leaders from across the state came together to discuss statewide collaboration in responding to adverse childhood experiences. Representatives from statewide public and private entities as well as local trauma coalitions joined...

With graduation season upon us, I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite graduation speeches. It’s the speech that Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, gave in 2014 at Dartmouth College. She references the typical expected advice from a graduation speech: “Follow your dreams. Listen to your spirit. Change the world. Make your mark. Find your inner voice and make it sing. Embrace failure. Dream. Dream and dream big..." And then she says, “I think that’s crap.”

    Dr. Kevin Carroll, UnityPoint Behavioral Health, and Lisa Cushatt, Central Iowa ACEs 360, were interviewed on on KCWI's Great Day in Iowa about adverse childhood experiences. Airing on Thursday, July 9, the interview discussed the impact...

The Central Iowa ACEs 360 Steering Committee has led efforts to research how  adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact the health and well-being of Iowans throughout a lifetime. In 2012, questions were added to the Behavioral Risk Factor...

Across the parking lot from a YMCA in Des Moines, about a dozen men sit on black plastic chairs in the basement of a former Catholic high school. This is a court-ordered class for domestic abusers, part of a new statewide curriculum for batterer intervention in Iowa. According to police reports, one man here kicked his wife several times in the stomach. Another threw a lamp at his girlfriend's head. Lucas Sampson - a man with the imposing appearance of a viking but the gentle demeanor of...

Farmworkers who spend their summers in Iowa often come from southern states such as Texas, with employers like Monsanto, whose migrant season is from June to October. The peak is in June and July during which more workers are needed. Health insurance coverage for migrant workers who are U.S. citizens with Medicare transfers no matter the state in which a patient resides. But U.S. citizen workers with low incomes, and with Medicaid coverage, have limited access to health insurance while...

Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...

Has the pandemic stressed you out? Want to learn the self-soothing skills of Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience directly from the author, Dr. Carolyn Curtis? Good news! The Dibble Institute has received generous funding for scholarships to the online, full 12-lesson series, Mind Matters Now . The course helps teachers, social workers, medical professionals, and others manage their stress by building resilience skills and practices for mental well-being. (CEUs are...

Photo: Shutterstock To read more of Bill Browning's article, please click here. Students around the nation are pushing back on Republican attacks on LGBTQ+ rights. They’ve stood up for teachers and coaches , walked out en masse, and this week, a Missouri university reopened a student resource center after students protested. But high schoolers in Iowa are taking a different approach to defy the state’s laws. They’ve heckled the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ governor , and instead of relying on...

Nationally recognized days of awareness remind us of important civil and human rights movements led by Black and African-American communities and social justice advocates. February puts leadership, education, access, justice, policy, and governance under the spotlight. Through a PACEs science lens, this month is an opportunity to consider trauma-informed transformation through a PACEs science lens as the way forward.