By
Bill Schubart, a retired businessman, is a regular columnist for VTDigger.
Do you know what an ACE is? It’s not your local hardware store, the winning card in your hand, nor your friend who plays professional tennis. It’s an increasingly used acronym for “adverse childhood experience.”
Plumb your own childhood, and if you recall a deeply traumatic emotional event that altered who you are today, you’re familiar with ACEs.
They include:
- Sexual, emotional, or physical abuse, bullying, and domestic violence.
- Extreme poverty, abandonment, homelessness, and hunger.
- Family break-up, mental illness, or addiction of a family member.
Data analysts estimate that untreated ACEs in Vermont in 2018 led to remediation costs of at least $410 million, $190 million of which are special education costs. It is difficult to impute the costs of ACEs in the criminal justice system, mental health treatment (such as it is), and emergency room visits.
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