Western Youth Services Uses Grant to Advance Awareness and Change the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Aug. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Since July 2020, ACEs Aware has awarded 185 grants totaling $45.1 million to organizations statewide to augment the state of California's work on the ACEs Aware initiative. Their aim is to cut adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress in half in one generation by offering Medi-Cal providers training, screening tools, and clinical protocols to respond with trauma-informed care.

ACEs Aware is a first-of-its-kind effort, it's led by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, and Dr. Karen Mark, Medical Director for the California Department of Health Care Services.

This initiative revolves around raising awareness of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study or ACEs), the landmark 1998 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente that describes ten categories of adversities in three domains experienced by age 18 years: abuse, neglect, and household challenges. 

Western Youth Services (WYS), a mental health agency in Orange County, is one of the grantees. They started using the ACE Study in client screenings in 2016 and it is an integral component of their services, programs, and educational platform. Dr. Lorry Leigh Belhumeur, CEO of WYS shares: "Childhood trauma does not need to be a life sentence. ACEs has proven to be an invaluable tool that we use to learn more about a child's life and provide preventative, early treatment to make a difference NOW."

WYS plays a pivotal role in ACEs education and prevention, screening and treatment, and measurement of outcomes in Orange County. The ACEs Aware grants helped expand their scope of work in three areas:

• Virtual Network of Care and Peer to Peer sessions. Through more than 30 events and over 1000 attendees, WYS provided an ACEs support system for healthcare providers in and beyond Orange County. The opportunity to introduce ACEs to the front lines of any industry or organization is where impact happens. 
  
• Judge Craig E. Arthur, Superior Court of Orange County invited WYS to host a Network of Care session for a group of Juvenile Court staff. Attendees shared that they learned eye-opening information about ACEs.
  
• When talking about ACEs the numbers tell the story. WYS partnered with Measurement Resources to conduct research and measure outcomes. The findings of their research are compiled in their Practice Paper titled: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Related Life Events: Understanding their Prevalence, Impacts, and Best Practices in Intervening. 
  
• Increased communications to strategically grow visibility and awareness around their existing ACEs platform and grow their network of collaborative partnerships all working together to achieve Dr. Nadine Burke Harris' bold goal to cut ACEs in half in one generation.

It's just the beginning, the second round of grantees, including WYS, have hit the ground running. 

"ACEs Aware grantees are doing powerful and amazing work. We are changing practices, culture, ourselves, institutions, and our communities." - Dr. Nadine Burke Harris

Learn more on the WYS ACEs Aware webpage.

Contact:
Kari Whitcraft
949-855-1556
[email protected]

SOURCE Western Youth Services