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Image: courtesy of wikimedia To those in the pediatric community: I want to let you all know that I have the honor of managing the ACEs in Pediatrics site. I began working with ACEs Connection in October. I came here with more than 25 years of experience as a health journalist, and a commitment to reporting on the remarkable shifts occurring in medicine and other sectors to promote trauma-informed and resiliency-building practices based on ACEs science . ACEs in Pediatrics is a forum for...

Since 2013, more than 12,000 children and their parents have been screened for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York.

This may be one of the most important health issues of our time! Learn More • Join the Conversation • Help Create Solutions CHANGE THE QUESTION We now know that childhood trauma changes the bodies and brains of children, and the way they approach life. Trauma, if left untreated, impacts physical and mental health, social connections, and even lifespan. Understanding what has happened in a person’s past, and helping them see the connection to their current behaviors, emotions, and health can...

Richmond is hot in the summer. August days in Virginia’s capital feature the kind of heat that shimmers in waves from the pavement and even in the evenings plasters suit shirts to skin like wet towels. On one such evening last year, that heat did a little extra sticking, even as a group of people gathered packed in a tiny room behind the governor’s mansion. In the middle of the group, Governor Terry McAuliffe stood, relishing the attention despite the heat. He’d shown his visitors through...

The thinking about problem drinking and alcoholism has changed. It's no longer considered a black-and-white, you have it or you don't condition. "We now know that there's a full spectrum in alcohol use disorder," says George Koob , the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohohlism, part of the National Institutes of Health. You can have a mild, moderate or severe problem. And there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to getting help. There is a wide range of options —...

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, imprisoning 2.24 million out of the world's total of 10.2 million incarcerated people as of 2013, according to the International Center for Prison Studies . The ICPS also reports that, in 2013, 480,000 people were held in U.S. jails before even being tried for their charges. The system of cash bail targets poor people who can’t afford their bail, and several major insurance companies make billions in profits from the cash...

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Excerpt from essay by Linda Burstyn published on msmagazine.com .

Reminder of tomorrow's ( Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST/1:00 PM EST) webinar on State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and...

Background Identifying children with adverse childhood experiences is challenging but critically important, because early intervention has the potential to improve health across the lifespan. This study tests the feasibility of using an integrated state agency administrative database to identify childrens' social complexity risk factors and examine their relationship to emergency department usage. What This Study Found State administrative data can be used to identify social risk factors for...

On Monday, protesters in Chicago jeered Ben Carson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A member of a grassroots seniors organization also interrupted his speech . It was Carson’s first public appearance since he issued a delay in a key rule for advancing fair housing and confronting racial segregation, and the resistance may only be getting started. On Friday, 76 national organizations that focus on faith, civil rights, affordable housing, and social...

In the 1970s, a truth was accidentally discovered about depression – one that was quickly swept aside, because its implications were too inconvenient, and too explosive. American psychiatrists had produced a book that would lay out, in detail, all the symptoms of different mental illnesses, so they could be identified and treated in the same way across the United States. It was called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. In the latest edition, they laid out nine symptoms that a patient has...