Adverse Childhood Experiences
Resources & Guidance for Addressing
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs are potentially traumatic events that happen in childhood and can have long-term impacts on health, opportunity and well-being.
A Note from the AAP:
As a pediatric professional, you are well-positioned to promote safe, stable, nurturing, relationships (SSNRs) by translating advances in developmental science into effective interventions for the home, clinic, and community.
To that end, practice leadership buy-in, provider and managerial support and staff development is instrumental to advancing and implementing changes to enhance practice and office workflow to help children build safe, stable nurturing relationships, and protect them from the damaging effects of toxic stress.
Our Role in Addressing ACEs
ICAAP is funded through the Illinois Department of Public Health to advance efforts to prevent, mitigate, and treat childhood adversity and trauma in Illinois through an equity lens.
Our work includes guidance and activities that use evidence-based approaches to:
- Bring additional awareness and understanding of ACEs
to pediatric health care settings and how they impact the health and development of a child. - Educate and support pediatric health care professionals
on how to partner with families and communities to promote relational health. - Develop and disseminate educational materials
for health care professionals and their patients around toxic stress, safe stable nurturing relationships (SSNRs) and more.
Resources to Better Address
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Identify and address ACEs in your practice with these vetted, evidence-based resources:
Screening for ACES
Understand the relationship between screening for ACEs and improved identification and referrals.
Addressing ACES in Primary Care
This article draws attention to the overlapping literature on social determinants of health and adverse childhood experiences, and the growing clinical interest in addressing them to promote children’s and parents’ health and well-being. We address important considerations and suggest solutions for leaders and practitioners in primary care to address social determinants of health/adverse childhood experiences.
AAP: Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences in Primary Care
Preventing Childhood Toxic Stress
This revised policy statement on childhood toxic stress acknowledges a spectrum of potential adversities and reaffirms the benefits of an ecobiodevelopmental model for understanding the childhood origins of adult-manifested disease and wellness. It also endorses a paradigm shift toward relational health because SSNRs not only buffer childhood adversity when it occurs but also promote the capacities needed to be resilient in the future.
AAP Trauma and Resilience Video Resources
This video-based series aims to empower pediatricians and healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to implement evidence-based, trauma-informed care and resilience promotion in their everyday practice. CME and MOC credit available for this course.
The AAP Trauma Toolbox for Primary Care
This 6-part series was designed with the primary care practice in mind – those who may or may not be familiar with ACEs and the process of asking families about exposure to ACEs or other traumatic events.
Homelessness & Adverse Childhood Experiences
This fact sheet was developed by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Network to End Family Homelessness to ensure clinicians working with people experiencing homelessness understand the role of ACEs in health outcomes as well as the options for responding.
National Childhood Traumatic Stress Network
This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. Get up-to-date information and resources trauma types, treatments, care, and resources.
To Increase Health Throughout the Lifespan
Promote Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs)
Safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments can buffer children from this harm and prevent many ACEs from happening in the first place.
PCEs create a safe, stable, and nurturing environment that children and adolescents need to thrive. This does not have to be done by just a parent or caregiver. Other adults can provide these experiences and community resources can provide the support that families need.
Additional Resources
Early Relational Health Implementation Guide for Pediatric Health Care Providers
Join the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Screening Technical Assistance and Resource Center for helpful on-demand access to patient outreach and guidance.
Screening Technical Assistance and Resource (STAR) Center
The STAR Center seeks to improve the health, wellness, and development of children through practice and system-based interventions to increase rates of early childhood screening, counseling, referral, and follow-up for developmental milestones, perinatal depression, and social determinants of health.
Addressing Systemic Causes of ACEs
At ICAAP, we are dedicated to fostering equitable access to healthcare, housing, food, and safety to help limit exposure to ACEs and mitigate adverse effects after they have occurred. Explore our key work below to help build your understanding and workflow around ACES:
Food Insecurity
Firearm Violence
Housing Insecurity
