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...

One of the first sessions of the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access discussed the barriers and opportunities for increasing access in the field of education. The main question was: "How can one achieve systematic changes within the field of education?" The session was moderated by Michelle Flowers, a passionate advocate, and the principal of Kinney High in Rancho Cordova, CA, which is part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. It included a dynamic and diverse panel of education...

A report released by the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing Standards Board and prepared by Wilder Research found only 4.3 percent of Minnesota teachers are people of color, while more than 33 percent of Minnesota students are people of color. State Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein, DFL-New Brighton, said the legislation would provide incentives like scholarships and loan forgiveness to students of color who want to become teachers. The bill's sponsors said it would also help teachers of color...

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics — the largest nationally representative study to date on ACEs — confirms that Adverse Childhood Experiences are universal, yet highlights some disparities among socioeconomic groups. People with low-income and educational attainment, people of color and people who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual had significantly higher chance of having experienced adversity in childhood. Read the full article here.

Minnesota has the potential to become a trauma-informed state if the hard work is done to raise awareness of ACEs and the impact of toxic stress on brain development, says third-term state representative Rena Moran (D-St. Paul). Moran led the effort...

The Midwest ACE Summit will take place in Minnesota on November 10th and 11th. We hope that you will join us for this opportunity to connect and learn with others across the state and region! We are currently inviting presentation proposals from folks across the Midwest who would like to facilitate workshop (breakout) sessions. The deadline for submissions is August 1st . For more information, please see the attached RFP form. Please share this form across your networks! For more information...

Day One: Thursday 15th 9am-4:30pm Day Two: Friday 16th 9am-12:30pm We want to invite you to the Community Empowerment Black Men Healing Conference, called “Groundbreaking and Visionary”. This year the goal is to go beyond the ACE Study, focusing on deeper issues of racial trauma and successful strategies for helping individuals and African American community heal, build resiliency, and prevent future ACEs. This conference since 2009 has provided an opportunity for meaningful community...

There’s a lot that’s indisputable about childhood trauma. Emotional or physical abuse early in life impacts health outcomes as children grow up. Community- and family-based approaches to dealing with trauma are better than institutional settings. And children of color are more likely to face traumatizing childhood experiences. Those events can include something as common as divorce, but also encompass circumstances such as having an incarcerated parent, living with someone with a substance...

Why: People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) leaders are essential to integrating equity into all policies and places. Join our effort to strengthen intergenerational equity across structures, domains, and communities. When: September 13th at 4:30pm-7:30pm Where: Wilder Foundation Key Audience: Equity-rooted advocates, coalitions, organizations, and policy makers Agenda Introductions: Ancestral Energy and Today’s Champions From the Mekong to Mississippi- Hmong Americans Transforming the Common...

Thank you to those who attended the 2016 Midwest ACE Summit! At the event nearly 300 people came together to learn about how communities are addressing ACEs and promoting healing in Minnesota and across the Midwest. We hope that participants were energized by the stories they heard and inspired about what can be done to foster resilience and healing in their own communities. Attached to this post are the Summit agenda and breakout session descriptions for your reference. Resources shared at...

Over the past three years, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) has worked to raise awareness about brain development, ACEs, and resilience statewide using the national ACE Interface curriculum. To date the organization has trained more than 130 Minnesotans from diverse communities to present this curriculum and help foster community responses. This summer, Maxine Freedman of Macalester College interviewed 29 members of MCCC's network to assess the impact of this work on...

As the nation grapples with the problems of the school-to-prison pipeline and the intersection of racial justice, the criminal justice system, law enforcement and education, the need for new priorities for children comes to light. For example, in a national public school system that is now majority children of color, students are suffering from trauma. And while there is a shortage of support staff to service public school children — including counselors, psychologists and social workers —...

The 2016 Midwest ACE Summit will bring people across the region together in shared learning that goes beyond the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study to focus on deeper issues of historical trauma and successful strategies for helping individuals and communities heal, build resiliency, and prevent future ACEs. We welcome your ideas for Summit presentation topics and presenters. To submit an idea or nomination, please see the form attached to this post. For more information about the...

Join us in three weeks for our free, virtual Annual Growing Resilient Communities Gathering! This event develops and implements community-wide approaches to Building Self-Healing Communities. Participants are encouraged to attend who are involved, or want to be involved in, addressing the root causes of childhood adversity: this can include Collaborative, tribal, and other community partners, such as health, law enforcement, education, social services, parents, businesses, and nonprofit...

Join us NEXT WEEK for our free, virtual Annual Growing Resilient Communities Gathering! This event develops and implements community-wide approaches to Building Self-Healing Communities. Participants are encouraged to attend who are involved, or want to be involved in, addressing the root causes of childhood adversity: this can include Collaborative, tribal, and other community partners, such as health, law enforcement, education, social services, parents, businesses, and nonprofit service...

We are hiring for a Director of Tribal Projects position at FamilyWise Services ! This position will support the mission of Familywise by leading prevention initiatives and promoting the self-healing community model in a specific geographic area of the state, including two to four Minnesota Tribes per year. Applicants will have the option to work 100% remotely if located in Greater Minnesota, or at the FamilyWise office in Minneapolis. You can find the full posting and position description...

The 6th Annual Growing Resilient Communities – Collaboratives and Tribal Nations Addressing ACEs Gathering will be held virtually on June 27th (9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.). This event is being offered through a partnership among the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota Center for Prevention, and FamilyWise Services. Attached is the Save the Date flyer and registration information for the event will be shared in the coming weeks. Please share this flyer...

To read more of Adrienne Broaddus' article, please click here. ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s state Capitol will soon be home to a distinction that few American cities can boast : an all-female City Council. The seven women that will be sworn in next month as council members are all under the age of 40, and six are women of color. Mitra Jalali, Rebecca Noecker and Nelsie Yang won their re-election races in November and will be joined by Saura Jost, Anika Bowie, Hwa Jeong Kim and Cheniqua...