Washington State is a strong national leader in our work around ACEs and public awareness. We see trauma informed practice in our social agencies within our communities. However, our state legislators with the support of the state board of education and the state superintendent of instruction, passed the most punitive graduation policy in the nation. When I confronted the issue in 2013, the legislators would not confirm the ACE Study. To date, Washington State has forced over 8,000 students...

Dear Legislator, It was a well known fact in 2013 that students under the new graduation law, did not have consistent nor fair access to fair and equitable opportunities to meet the new graduation requirements. With that knowledge, the Legislators moved forward and denied thousands of students their HS diploma. Another fact... a high percentage of those being denied were students of poverty and color. The Democrats blamed it on the Republicans. Now that there is a Democrat majority, the...

On June 15, 2011,Washington State enacted HB 1965 . The law established a statutory definition of adverse childhood experiences that is consistent with the ACE study and codified the state’s commitment to addressing ACEs in state policy. It also...