As ACEs Aware grantees, one of the ways we are implementing the ACEs Aware initiative is by hosting monthly Peer to Peer and Network of Care Learning Sessions for Medi-Cal and other providers in Orange County. ⁠

These two-hour sessions are perfect for practitioners who want to learn more about action planning and strategic change in trauma-informed care and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on individuals and communities.⁠

We have several events scheduled for May and June.

Upcoming Peer-to-Peer Sessions

Art and Creativity: Resilience-Building Interventions for Youth
Wednesday 06.02.2021 - 9-11 am PST

Explore how art and creativity can be used to buffer toxic stress and build resilience. We will discuss various expressive arts interventions that providers can use with youth. We will offer a guided demonstration of some of these interventions and engage the group in a discussion of how they use creativity in their work.

Provider Compassion: Coming to Terms with One’s Own Adversity
Wednesday 06.08.2021 - 9-11 am PST

This session includes a discussion on looking inward toward the various facets of our own experiences with adversity as providers. Explore how we can develop compassion for oneself as we work to support traumatized individuals and build resilient communities.

Upcoming Network of Care Sessions

ACEs Response: Navigating the Trauma-Informed Network of Care
- Tuesday 05.25.2021 - 10-12 pm PST
- Tuesday 06.22.2021 - 10-12 pm PST

This session provides an interactive opportunity for engaging in the change process toward building and navigating a trauma-informed network of care.

It's a follow-up to our first Network of Care session, “ACEs Response: Building a Roadmap toward Resilience." Learn about the ACE study, the impact of toxic stress and best practices in trauma informed care. We will provide practical tools for developing ACE-informed practices within an organizational setting, offer strategies for supporting patients through the screening and treatment process, and provide resources for tapping into your community’s network of care. If you are a Medi-Cal provider or work with children and teens in any capacity, we would love for you to join us!

Western Youth Services (WYS) received a grant from the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to participate in the state’s ACEs Aware initiative. ACEs Aware is a first-of-its-kind effort to enable early detection and mitigate against the health and societal impacts of ACEs and toxic stress. It is led by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, and Dr. Karen Mark, Medical Director for the California Department of Health Care Services. This program aims to cut ACEs and toxic stress in half in one generation by offering Medi-Cal providers training, screening tools, and clinical protocols to respond with trauma-informed care.

You can learn more and register at: http://bit.ly/ACEsAwareEventbrite.