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 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.

In this webinar, Lynn Todman, Ph.D., M.P.C. and Collaborative member Elena Quintana, Ph.D. discuss the link between the social determinants of health, wide spread trauma and emotional unrest, and inequality in Southwest Michigan.

In this webinar, Andrea Ortez of Partnership for Resilience discusses how organizers, educators, and clinicians can utilize community partnerships to provide trauma-informed support to both teachers and students. Ortez addressed the early lessons of the Partnership and the types of relationships that practitioners, educators, and advocates must foster together to ensure the needs of the whole child are met.

This policy brief examines the impact of ACEs in the education system including promising practices and recommended actions for change. The brief was developed by members of the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative—system leaders in Illinois who are working from an ACEs-informed lens to improve systems to prevent and mitigate trauma across generations. Rooted in social justice, the brief is a call to action to move upstream, build resiliency, and recognize how addressing inequity and trauma can improve systems while also building resiliency.

This summary policy briefs explores the impact of ACEs in the education system including promising practices and recommended actions for change.

In 2016, the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative conducted an Environmental Scan of programs addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma in multiple sectors. The Scan yielded information from 339 local, state, national and international programs. This paper identifies successful ACE-related policies, programs, and models utilized by these programs highlighting the essential elements and characteristics needed to foster effective interventions .