Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California’s Response to Adverse Childhood Experiences

A new report from the Center for Youth Wellness outlines policy ideas and recommendations for creating momentum around addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) across California.

A primary-care pediatric clinic in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco, the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) has taken a leading role in exploring the way early adversity can negatively impact the developing brains and bodies of children, both at its clinic and as a state-wide advocate. A CYW-sponsored summit on ACEs in November 2014 gathered 200 leaders from a diverse set of fields to develop public-policy strategies that think about exposure to ACEs as a public health crisis.

The new brief, “Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California’s Response to Adverse Childhood Experiences,” presents ideas shared at the ACEs summit by participants and suggests opportunities for building a multi-sectoral approach toward responding to the impact of ACEs across California.

• Increase early screening for ACEs and identify opportunities for early intervention
• Make greater investments in and broader movement toward integrated physical and behavioral healthcare
• Raise awareness about unaddressed exposure to ACEs and create organizations at the local level
• Organize partnerships across diverse sectors to address systematic barriers to the prevention and treatment of toxic stress
• Identify, research and advance best practices that establish the evidentiary basis for clinical and community interventions
• Support and expand efforts to foster trauma-informed practices across health care, education, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems

You can read the full report here.