Here's a place where you can review books, educational dvds and documentaries that relate to ACE concepts or trauma-informed practices. "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world." ~ Nelson Mandela

Join in conversations inspired by Donna Jackson Nakazawa's book, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal. We'll chat about the latest research on how ACEs can affect our health, happiness, and relationships; vent a little; and brainstorm our best ideas for resiliency and healing.

The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative is a broad range of multi-sectoral stakeholders committed to expanding the understanding of trauma and ACEs and their impact on the health and well-being of Illinois children, families, communities, and systems. Through advocacy and mobilization efforts, we work to put the issues of ACEs, trauma, and resilience on the forefront of health equity in Illinois.

We share ideas, information and stories about mitigating the effects of adverse childhood experiences in the K-12 environment. 

We advocate for the bio/psycho/social well being of foster children. We recognize, acknowledge and validate the trauma endured by children placed in foster care. We embrace the capacity of healing and ultimate recovery for foster children with family, community and professional support.

PACEs in Maternal Health is a community of individuals who seek to raise awareness and deepen understanding about the association of adverse childhood experiences and the lifelong impacts on maternal health.

Discussion and sharing of resources in working with clients involved in the criminal justice system and how screening for and treating ACEs will lead to successful re-entry of prisoners into the community and reduced recidivism for former offenders.

Connecting and informing the faith community how to integrate PACE concepts into the faith-based community.

Discussion of Transition and Reentry issues of out of home (treatment, detention, sheltered, etc.) youth back to their families and communities. Frequently these youth have fallen behind in their schooling, have reduced motivation, and lack skills to navigate requirements to successfully re-enter school programs or even to move ahead with their dreams.

How do we honor both lived & learned expertise to break down barriers between parents & professionals? How do PACE-impacted families best access healing, hope & health? How might parent education, training, & support services if co-created with families & in community?

Resources, posts, discussions, chats about national efforts to build a trauma-informed, resilience-building nation.

Restorative Integral Support (RIS) is “whole life” recovery for people who face challenges of all kinds. RIS assesses an individual's needs and provides guidance for facilitating recovery. As a comprehensive, “whole person” approach to recovery from trauma, RIS includes powerful somatic therapies and other research-informed interventions.

The State PACEs Action is the go-to location for ACEs activities in U.S. states.

If you're doing ACEs histories, please do a short blog post or contact one of the community managers so that we can do so for you.