Profile Information
Location
Bel Air, MD
Country
United States
Postal Code
21014
What is it you do for a living? (Parenting, volunteering, CEO of social service organization, etc.)
Law Enforcement
What organization(s) do you volunteer or work for?
Harford County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) | Community Services Division
What is your interest in PACEs and resilience science?
Harford County's collective ACEs journey began in earnest in 2017 when the CAC hosted a public screening of Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope. In the lead up to that event we began connecting with multiple community organizations who were each working on their own piece of the ACEs puzzle. At that event we promoted a follow-up meeting the next month to continue the discussion, which has now evolved into nearly monthly meetings of the Harford County ACEs Steering Committee. We have participation from social services, public schools, special education, early education, higher education, child care, health department, mental health agencies, law enforcement, emergency responders - fire/EMS, juvenile justice, healthy community organizations, kinship care, faith community, private citizens, etc. - with more joining every month. We have given presentations on ACEs to many professionals around the county and have also spoken to the local opioid prevention effort. Through the recommendations and input of the steering committee we were successful in receiving grant funding from the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention (GOCCP) to "Build capacity and awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)" and received funding to pilot and support programs like Handle With Care and ACE Interface, as well as purchase equipment and materials for raising community awareness on ACEs. This local effort has be bolstered by work at the state level by the State Council on Child Abuse & Neglect (SCCAN), the Maryland Essentials For Childhood committee and The Family Tree.
