Martha Davis, Institute for Safe Familes (ISF), and Kristin Schubert, RWJF, write about the history and prevalence of adverse childhood exerpiences (ACEs) and toxic stress in the Philadelphia Inquirer. A recent study on urban ACEs revealed early childhood traumas are particularly pervasive in Philadelphia. RWJF and ISF are part of a network of leaders working to prevent ACEs nationwide.
Vulnerable Population's Senior Communications Officer Susan Promislo discusses the foundations efforts to foster a vibrant culture of health in communities nationwide. The foundation is currently supporting interventions like Child First, Nurse-Family Partnership, and other efforts that work to stabilize fragile families and put children on the path to healthy development.
We spoke with Martha Davis, the Executive Director of the Institute as she explains how leaders are changing the landscape of ACEs and shares her thoughts about the first National Summit on Adverse Childhood Experiences. "I think we're in the midst of a non-violent revolution," says Davis.
In 2012, the Institute for Safe Families, with support from RWJF and others formed the Philadelphia Adverse Childhood Experiences Task Force. This Task Force conducted a city-wide Urban ACE survey of over 1,700 residents to understand how prevalent the problem is in Philadelphia. The survey found that 37 percent of Philadelphia adults reported having four or more of these ACEs.
The National Summit on Adverse Childhood Experiences, co-sponsored by the Institute for Safe Families and RWJF, took place May 2013 in Philadelphia. The event brought together national and local leaders to learn what approaches are making a difference and how they can spread more widely to create a paradigm shift within health care, mental health, and child-serving systems.
Traumatic childhood events like abuse and neglect can create dangerous levels of stress and derail healthy brain development, resulting in long-term effects on learning, behavior and health. Leaders in research, policy and practice across the country are leading the way in preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mitigating their impact by building resilience.
This report describes three unique approaches to supporting young, vulnerable populations by providing direct support to parents and teachers.
The Nurse-Family Partnership gives young, low-income women who are first-time parents somewhere to turn.
This report is the second in a series of studies that report on strategies to sustain children’s mental health services and prevent the onset of problem behaviors.
Child First is a home-based early childhood intervention that works with the most vulnerable very young children and their families to reduce serious emotional disturbance, developmental and learning problems, and abuse and neglect.
