Links to reports, videos, and research that provides introductory information about ACEs, trauma-informed care, and resilience.

Launched in July 2020, the Statewide Working Group, convened by the Collaborative, engaged in a 10-month strategic planning process to develop a coordinated statewide response for mitigating trauma’s lasting effects on children’s health and well-being and to promote healing and thriving at every stage of life. The Action Plan builds upon a solid foundation of research, collaboration, trauma-responsive policy and practice expertise, and the knowledge and experience of community members.

In 2013, the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative successfully petitioned the Illinois Department of Public Health to include an ACE module in the State’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)—a CDC-developed survey that collects information on health risk behaviors, chronic diseases, use of preventive health practices, and health access. Our report presents findings from the 2013 BRFSS and examines the prevalence of ACEs among adults in Illinois and Chicago, including assessing racial/ethnic and gender differences, and the association of ACEs with negative health outcomes.

In 2017, Health & Medicine Policy Research Group’s Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative (the Collaborative), the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), and the Alliance for Health Equity (AHE) partnered to establish the Trauma-Informed Working Group (the Working Group) of the AHE, a group of 18 Chicago-area hospitals and health care systems working to become trauma-informed. This report aims to share the learnings of the Working Group. It is our hope that the insights presented here will provide direction for health care institutions and other organizations pursuing TIHC transformation.

The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative’s solutions-oriented trainings and other capacity building supports equip our partners with the knowledge and tools to transform their organizations, institutions, and communities. Learn about our training opportunities here! Our services are available to any organization both within and beyond the social service and health sector.

Using the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to Highlight Connections Between Childhood Experiences and Outcomes Among Chicago Public High School Students

The Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin has been at the forefront of the movement to create trauma-informed hospitals. Using the Sanctuary Model and the will of many champions within the hospital, this medical system is several years into a 10-year process to become trauma-informed. During the webinar, Dr. Heather Paradis (Medical Director, Community Services) and Jennifer Hammel (Early Childhood Development and Trauma Informed Care Director) explain the genesis of this major systems change movement.

The time has never been better for exploration of the possibilities for expanding the Universal Newborn Support System (UNSS) model in Illinois. A group of early childhood and maternal and child health advocates, supported by Health & Medicine, McAlpine Consulting for Growth, and Conlon Public Strategies, has studied and developed recommendations as to how such a system might be shaped, administered, and funded as a universal statewide initiative, learning from those closest to model programs already underway.

The time has never been better for exploration of the possibilities for expanding the Universal Newborn Support System (UNSS) model in Illinois. A group of early childhood and maternal and child health advocates, supported by Health & Medicine, McAlpine Consulting for Growth, and Conlon Public Strategies, has studied and developed recommendations as to how such a system might be shaped, administered, and funded as a universal statewide initiative, learning from those closest to model programs already underway.