Collaborative Action: Addressing Toxic Stress and ACES - Highlighting Efforts

First 5 Placer Network works to address and prevent ACES in Placer and promote resiliency. The First 5 Network includes many of non-profit agencies, schools, and medical providers working collaboratively on this important work to promote healthy child development. This article is to highlight the work that our partner Sierra Community Medical Foundation is doing in order to address ACEs and preventing toxic stress. The below article was written by pediatric Dr. Craig Corp.

"The Sierra Community Medical Foundation (SCMF), which supports the Placer-Nevada and Yuba-Sutter-Colusa Medical Societies, has begun bringing together a broad coalition of service providers, in order to form a trauma-informed network-of-care in our region. This work is supported by a generous grant from Sutter Health to begin addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Placer, Sutter and Yuba Counties. The current state in our region is that awareness and understanding about the immediate and long-term effects of ACEs varies widely between organizations. Little in the way of screening for ACEs is being done, and the response to identifying an individual who has suffered toxic stress in childhood is fragmented. Because of promoting ACEs awareness, we are seeing groups that were not aware of the long term effects of ACEs becoming interested and getting involved. SCMF is in the process of forming a coalition by partnering with healthcare systems, physicians, public and mental health professionals, social services, education systems, law enforcement, community members and other organizations including First 5.

SCMF is also in the process of educating the many physician members of the Medical Societies about ACEs and how to screen for them. Our goal is to create an integrated network of services that can provide the needed aid to families and individuals who have been identified as having had ACEs. Centralized referral coordination will make it easy to access all the needed aid with a single contact. We are very grateful for the opportunity to work on something so crucial for a better and healthier future in our communities."