With the support of California’s ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Aware Initiative, the upcoming Bridges to Resilience conference is designed to link regional healthcare providers with community partners and build resiliency focused networks of care in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
Registration is now open for the free conference that will be held virtually, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, June 9. Find information and free registration at bridgestoresilience.com. Pre-register by midnight June 3.
The program is intended for those who serve children, youth and families, are interested in understanding, preventing, and addressing childhood trauma, and want to help make the coastal tri-counties a resilient region.
Cross-sector participants include physicians and other healthcare professionals, educators and early care providers, social workers and therapists, police and probation officers, philanthropists and community agencies, faith leaders, parents and foster parents.
Attendees will learn tools and techniques for addressing ACEs, and will connect with local resources for referral and collaboration. The event will feature a keynote and community panel with Dr. Robert Anda, co-founder, co-principal investigator of the landmark ACEs Study.
The program provides 14 sessions on a topics by physicians, field experts and facilitators including: Ripple Effects of Transgenerational Trauma and Racism on Families of Color; Road to Resilience: Connecting Pediatrics and Community Service Providers; Shifting from the Stress System to the Wisdom System, Disrupting Fragility to Create Opportunity; the Importance of Youth Resilience in Overcoming Adversity; and Trauma-Responsive Family Engagement Practices for Early Childhood.
There will be opportunities to network and discover community resources through the digital Resource Hall. Continuing education credits are available for healthcare professionals; fees apply for CE.About Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs):
The term Adverse Childhood Experiences comes from the landmark 1998 ACEs Study, conducted among more than 17,000 adult patients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente.
When capitalized, the term ACEs specifically refers to 10 categories of adversities in three domains — abuse, neglect, and household challenges. ACEs are strongly associated with some of the most common, serious, and costly health conditions facing our society today, including nine of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S.
It is now known that one important way in which ACEs increase risk of poor physical, mental and behavioral health is through prolonged activation of the biological stress response.
Repeated or prolonged activation of a child’s stress response, without the buffering of trusted, nurturing caregivers and safe, stable environments, leads to long-term changes in the structure and functioning of the developing brain, metabolic, immune, and neuroendocrine responses, and even the way DNA is read and transcribed.
The ACEs Aware initiative is providing training, screening tools, and clinical protocols so physicians can screen patients for ACEs, offer early intervention strategies, and provide referrals to trauma-informed community resources.
“We know that toxic stress can dramatically impact life outcomes,” said Finch. “And we know that it takes a whole community to create pathways to healing. Bridges to Resilience shows us how to build a collaborative, trauma-informed network of care that can connect families to buffering supports and improve life outcomes for generations to come.”
Bridges to Resilience Collaborative: KIDS Network and the Bridges to Resilience conference gave rise to Santa Barbara’s growing ACEs initiative, Resilient Santa Barbara County. Through the ACEs Aware Provider Engagement Grant, KIDS Network led a tri-county planning process for this year’s conference to engage new partners and strengthen care networks in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.