On May 25th, 2023, the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative held the fifth annual Trauma-Informed Awareness Day: Building a Healing-Centered Future. The day featured a full lineup of events including a keynote address by Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and interactive discussions highlighting solutions from the community for a healing-centered Illinois. Over 300 partners, advocates, policymakers, and community members from across Illinois gathered that day. Read the full report from the day's discussions, breakout sessions, and more here.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

This resource guide is designed to provide you with tools and strategies to establish and grow a Trauma-Informed Workgroup at your organization. It also includes resources on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma, and trauma-informed care to share with each other and your organization as a whole. This guide will assist you in leading a workgroup that advocates for and implements trauma-informed practices that create safer, more supportive, and healing-centered environments.

This review assesses the current landscape of state-level legislation to understand how childhood adversity is currently addressed in policies, focusing on state-level legislation across the country that incorporated ACEs, trauma, and trauma-informed care. We hope this scan will be the first step in monitoring not only areas for growth in policy, but to also discover new ideas for potential pieces of legislation and collaboration across sectors and state lines.

This paper will provide an overview of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as well as how opioid misuse is both associated with past trauma in the home and community and correlated with increased risk of future poor health and social outcomes. It will also provide practical strategies to implement a trauma-informed response that fosters resilience and supports families impacted by opioid misuse.