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February 2023 Newsletter

February is Black History Month, an annual observance honoring the triumphs, achievements, and sacrifices of Black Americans. The ACEs Aware initiative would like to recognize the enormous contributions of Black Americans living today and from generations past, and acknowledge the racism, injustice, and adversity they have experienced for centuries and continue to confront today.


Research indicates that Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by adversity, including Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which they experience more than other populations in the United States. Though racism and other forms of discrimination were not part of the original ACE study, research suggests that exposure to racism and discrimination act as risk factors for the development of the toxic stress response. First, racism and the resulting systemic inequities create conditions that lead to ACEs. Second, communities of color are disproportionately located in environments that have fewer resources for buffering care, such as access to fresh healthy foods, green spaces, recreational facilities, and health care resources. Additionally, exposure to racism and discrimination can act as a direct and chronic stressor that can lead to the development of the toxic stress response.


A founding principle of the ACEs Aware initiative is that toxic stress is a health condition that is amenable to treatment. As such, the ACEs Aware initiative encourages clinical teams to utilize the evidence-based strategies presented by ACEs Aware to mitigate the toxic stress response in patients who have been exposed to racism or discrimination. However, the ACEs Aware initiative recognizes that these evidence-based strategies will not sufficiently address the pervasive impact of racism and discrimination on the health and well-being of individuals in California. To truly transform the negative outcomes associated with racism, discrimination, and ACEs, the structural factors that result in disparities in health, social, and economic outcomes and opportunities must be addressed.


The California Surgeon General’s Roadmap for Resilience report, which informs the ACEs Aware initiative, provides a blueprint that includes cross-sector work on: building trauma-informed, trauma-responsive, and culturally humble practices; addressing implicit bias and historical trauma; advocating for equitable access to programs, services, and healthy living conditions; and supporting people in their healing journey, including providing access and connection to evidence-informed stress mitigation strategies.

  

Learn more: 

New and Noteworthy

ACEs Aware Implementation with Intention Webinar Series

Registration is now open for Webinar #2:

Form Your Team & Get Buy-In 

 

Thursday, February 23, 2023; 12-1 p.m.  

 

In this webinar, you will learn to: 

  • Describe how to identify essential decision makers and champions to engage for successful implementation 
  • Identify key elements of an outreach plan and engagement strategy 
  • Discuss key considerations in forming and structuring a successful implementation team 
Register Here

November 2022 Quarter TIPC Committee Meeting Recap Now Available

A meeting summary and slides from the quarterly Trauma-Informed Primary Care (TIPC) Implementation Advisory Committee meeting held on November 16, 2022, are now available.


Members heard updates from Diana Ramos, California Surgeon General; Karen Mark, Medical Director, California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS); and leaders of the UCLA-UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN). A special presentation entitled “Update on the New Medi-Cal Benefits: Community Health Worker, Doula, and Dyadic Services” was made by Lisa Murawski, Chief, Benefits Division, DHCS.

View Materials

ACEs Aware Community Spotlight

Mikah Owen, MD, MPH, MBA 

Director of Clinical and Academic Programs and Health Equity, UCAAN 

 

Based in the Sacramento area, Dr. Owen is a social pediatrician who has dedicated his career to improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents from marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds, especially those with involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

 

Dr. Owen has been a long-time adviser to the ACEs Aware initiative and recently joined the UCLA-UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN) as Senior Director of Clinical and Academic Programs, and Health Equity. Prior to joining UCAAN, Dr. Owen was an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC Davis Health.

Read More


Putting Implementation into Action

"Implementation with Intention"

Webinar #1 Now Available Online 

 

If you missed our first ACE screening implementation webinar in January, don’t fret! The recording, slides, and transcript are now online.  

 

This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™, ASWB, ABP-MOC, and ABIM-MOC II Credit and is jointly provided by the California Department of Health Care Services, the Office of the California Surgeon General, and the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine.

View The Webinar

News, Events, Resources, and Research

EVENTS

ACEs Aware Implementation with Intention Webinar #2: Form Your Team & Get Buy-In

Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. PST | UCAAN

Join us for our continuing ACEs Aware “Implementation with Intention” webinar series dedicated to helping California clinics implement Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) screening and response.

 

Sessions will be held on the fourth Thursday of the month, January through May 2023, and will offer Continuing Medical Education credit.


Register Now →



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RESOURCES

Recorded Webinar: Racism & Discrimination as a Risk Factor for Toxic Stress

An ACEs Aware recorded webinar featuring Dr. Nadine Burke Harris with field experts, making the case to clinicians and clinical teams that implementing trauma-informed care principles and ACE screening can help promote health equity as part of supporting the health and well-being of their patients.


Access →



Recorded Webinar: ACEs, Race and Resilience with Nia J. Heard-Garris, M.D., M.Sc.

The Center for Translational Research Enrichment Series invited speaker Nia J. Heard-Garris, M.D., M.Sc., to present this topic as an Instructor of Pediatrics within the Division of Academic General Pediatrics and Primary Care.


Access →


Placer County Campaign for Community Wellness Black History Month Resource Library

Honoring Black and African-American contributions to mental health, whilst providing resources to advance healthy equity.


Access →



Center for Child Counseling on ACEs and Minoritized Groups

Laying out at-risk communities, ACE clusters, solutions, coping skills, and external support systems.


Access →


PACEs and African-Americans Blog

A blog dedicated to mental health in African-American communities, topics include Adverse Childhood Experiences, historical trauma, inter-generational transmission of trauma, African American parenting practices, health disparities, the effects of racism, microaggressions and implicit bias, as well as resilience.


Access →


Historical Trauma Among African-Americans, ACEs, and Hope

A podcast episode about the traumatic history of African Americans, how ACEs compound multi-generational trauma, and what hope looks like.


Access →


Children's Advocacy Center ACEs and Black History Month Resources

Children’s Advocacy Center provides resources regarding mental health in the black community and meaningful ways to discuss race with children.  


Access →

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RESEARCH

How Discrimination Gets Under the Skin: Biological Determinants of Discrimination Associated with Dysregulation of the Brain-Gut Microbiome System and Psychological Symptoms

October 2022 | Biological Psychiatry


Read →


Adverse Childhood Experiences in a Low-Income Black Cohort: The Importance of Context 

July 2021 | Preventive Medicine


Read →



Making the "C-ACE" for a Culturally-Informed Adverse Childhood Experiences Framework to Understand the Pervasive Mental Health Impact of Racism on Black Youth

June 2021 | Journal of Child Adolescent Trauma


Read →


Childhood Adversity among Black Children: The Role of Supportive Neighborhoods

October 2019 | Children and Youth Services Review


Read →


Adverse Childhood Experiences: Expanding the Concept of Adversity

September 2015 | American Journal of Preventive Medicine


Read →

Now is a great time to take the Becoming ACEs Aware in California  online training!  

We’ve improved the user experience, making it easier to complete the training and access Continuing Medical Education credit. 

  

Take the free, two-hour training to learn how to provide trauma-informed care, screen for ACEs and assess risk of toxic stress, and use clinical protocols to develop a treatment plan to prevent and mitigate toxic stress. 

Take the Training

Already completed the training?

Providers with National Provider Identifiers should attest on the DHCS website

so they can become eligible for Medi-Cal reimbursement for screening.

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”


– Ida B. Wells

Black Journalist & Civil Rights Leader

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