ACEs Aware in Action

Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health

The Office of the California Surgeon General released the first California Surgeon General’s Report - Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. The report serves as a blueprint for how communities, states, and nations can recognize and effectively address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress as a root cause to some of the most harmful, persistent, and expensive societal and health challenges facing our world today.

The report provides clear and equitable response solutions, models, and best practices to be replicated or tailored to serve community needs. The comprehensive report brings together global experts across sectors, specialties, regions, and disciplines to drive science-based approaches to primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies for ACEs and toxic stress.

A special webinarwas held on December 10, 2020, where California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris shared key findings of the report along with critical insights for policymakers, scientists, healthcare providers, educators, and advocates to advance evidence-based solutions and approaches to act now to prevent and health childhood adversity.

The webinar materials, including a recording of the broadcast, are available for viewing and download on the ACEs Aware Educational Events page.

Trauma-Informed Network of Care Roadmap Released for Public Comment

On December 14, 2020, the ACEs Aware initiative released a draft Trauma-Informed Network of Care Roadmap for public comment. The roadmap aims to provide practical steps that health care providers and health and human services organizations can take within their own communities to grow cross-sector networks of care that support children, adults, and families in effectively mitigating the impact of ACEs and toxic stress on health.

The deadline for public comment on the roadmap is January 15, 2021, and comments can be submitted through this survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PublicComment-NoCRoadmap.

2020-10-29 (12)

The Opportunity for ACE Screening in Prenatal Care

Lessons Learned from Dr. Tanisha E. Silas-Young

ACE screening offers maternal health care providers a tremendous opportunity to address toxic stress, interrupt the cycle of intergenerational trauma, and set patients on a path to healing. In this month’s ACEs Aware Spotlight, Dr. Tanisha E. Silas-Young of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from Kaiser Permanente in Vacaville shares experiences and lessons learned from implementing ACE screening into her prenatal care practice.

ACEs Aware Grantee Highlights

2020-11-16 (10) Since receiving their grant awards in June, ACEs Aware grantees have been hard at work executing a range of activities to inform and educate Medi-Cal providers about the importance of screening for ACEs and responding with trauma-informed care.

Cardea Services, The Raise Foundation, Lake Family Resource Center, and First 5 Contra Costa are in the new Grantee Spotlight for December, and each organization is leading an exciting body of work through provider training, provider engagement, and communications. Read more about each organization on the ACEs Aware blog.

Have You Completed the ACEs Aware Training?

Eligible Medi-Cal providers can receive a $29 payment for conducting each qualifying ACE screening for their patients up to age 65.

ACEs Aware offers a free, online training for providers interested in learning more about screening for ACEs and responding with trauma-informed care. Two Continuing Medical Education and Maintenance of Certification credits are available for completing the training. The training includes cases for pediatric, internal medicine, family medicine, and women’s health providers.

After providers take the training and complete the simple attestation form, they can file claims and receive Medi-Cal payments.

Please note that Medi-Cal payment is not available to providers who do not complete the attestation form; providers must confirm that they have completed the ACEs Aware training to receive payment.

For more information, visit the ACEs Aware Certification & Payment webpage.

Childhood trauma impacts millions of Americans, and it’s having devastating consequences

PBS NewsHour | December 14

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris discussed adverse childhood experiences and the science of toxic stress in a new series on the PBS NewsHour, “Invisible Scars: America’s Childhood Trauma Crisis." During the program, Dr. Burke Harris emphasizes that early detection and early intervention, including ACE screening, improves health outcomes.