Provider Training
Grantees produced 35 new trainings under the grants to help educate Medi-Cal providers about the importance of incorporating ACE screening into their clinical practice, using clinical protocols to determine evidence-based treatment plans, and providing trauma-informed care across settings. Grantees combined information about the science of ACEs and toxic stress with their own experience as community organizations to develop specialized trainings, including for reproductive health, early childhood, and indigenous communities.
Provider Engagement
Provider engagement grants offered opportunities for clinical teams and other stakeholders to share lessons learned and best practices, raise awareness about ACEs, and build learning communities tailored to specific geographic areas, patient populations, clinical teams, and practice settings. Provider engagement sessions have strengthened participants’ knowledge of ACEs and toxic stress, boosted their confidence in ACE screening and treatment, and helped them shift their organizations toward a culture of trauma-informed care. Between June 2020 and December 2021, ACEs Aware provider engagement grantees engaged with nearly 20,000 individuals across California.
Practice Papers
More than 20 provider engagement grantees were awarded funding to develop practice papers highlighting promising strategies and lessons learned, as well as new research around ACE screening and trauma-informed systems of care. The practice papers cover a broad range of topics, including screening adolescents and immigrant youth for ACEs; teaching medical residents about ACEs, toxic stress, and ACE screening; implementing ACE screening and trauma-informed care in small health care practices and federally qualified health centers; and the role of accountable communities for health and community information exchanges in networks of care.
Communications
Communications grantees developed outreach materials customized for specific audiences to broaden the reach of ACEs Aware and its goals. Grantees utilized a diverse array of communications channels , including videos, podcasts, and billboards, to promote their messages.
Building Trauma-Informed Networks of Care
In January 2021, ACEs Aware awarded eight Network of Care Implementation grants, totaling $22.9 million, and 26 Network of Care Planning grants totaling $7.56 million to communities across California. The planning grants concluded in September 2021, but the implementation grantees are continuing their activities to engage across sectors and with clinicians to advance ACE screening and response in a comprehensive manner that will ultimately lead to tracking outcomes based on interventions provided in a clinical setting and beyond.
View highlights from the diverse and impactful work that took place around California: