Center for Youth Wellness Awarded an ACEs Aware Grant in Partnership with Brazelton Touchpoints Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Francisco, July 1, 2020 – Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) is an official grantee of the ACEs Aware initiative and will receive funds from the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). CYW, along with Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) will be conducting five provider engagement sessions through interactive webinar presentations and virtual office hours. The provider engagement activities will directly serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

CYW and BTC will also host interactive Question and Answer sessions for participants, providing real time engagement opportunities. These sessions can be combined as part of an online training or offered separately as a series of online discussions to promote the ACEs Aware initiative among the Medi-Cal provider community across California.

A total of $14.3 million was awarded to 100 organizations throughout the state to extend the reach and impact of the ACEs Aware initiative. Funding for the ACEs Aware grants was previously authorized in the 2019-20 budget using Proposition 56 funds for provider training on how to conduct ACE screening in the Medi-Cal population.

“This work is critical, now more than ever, given the stress so many Californians are experiencing as a result of COVID-19 and the role of racial injustice as a risk factor for toxic stress. A trauma-informed health care workforce is vital for helping our state heal,” said California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris.

Added Dr. Karen Mark, DHCS Medical Director: “These grants will help us reach Medi-Cal providers who serve diverse and often at-risk populations throughout the state, and will help to ensure that Medi-Cal members receive the high-quality, integrated care that every Californian deserves.”

The team at CYW and BTC is looking forward to engaging in activities, along with the other ACEs Aware grantees, that will augment California’s efforts to engage providers in addressing the toxic stress crises in the state. CYW and BTC bring to the table an intersectional approach to assessing and addressing ACEs in a trauma-informed manner. Their work will highlight the impact of the COVID-19 stress response and why utilizing a trauma-informed lens is relevant as communities re-open.

About Center for Youth Wellness

The Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) is a national leader in the field of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).  CYW raises awareness about the connections between chronic, toxic stress, caused by early adversity, and harm to the developing brains and bodies of children and their long-term health.  CYW partners with communities to identify pathways, build capacity, and remove barriers to the care and treatment of children and families exposed to ACEs and toxic stress.

About Brazelton Touchpoints Center

The Brazelton Touchpoints Center is dedicated to strengthening the families of young children and the systems of care that surround them so that all children – regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic, physical, psychological, emotional health, or environmental challenges – will be successful early learners and have the opportunity to thrive. BTC establishes scalable and sustainable, low-cost, low-tech interventions that propel children’s healthy development and build the internal capacity of – and strengthen the collaborative relationships among – families, parents, caregivers, providers, and communities.

About ACEs Aware

Led by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, and Dr. Karen Mark, Medical Director for DHCS, the ACEs Aware initiative offers Medi-Cal providers core training, screening tools, clinical protocols, and payment for screening children and adults for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which are stressful or traumatic experiences people have by age 18 that were identified in the landmark ACE Study. ACEs describe 10 categories of adversities in three domains – abuse, neglect, and/or household dysfunction. ACEs are strongly associated with at least nine out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the United States. Part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s California for All initiative, the goal of ACEs Aware is to reduce ACEs and toxic stress by half in one generation. Follow ACEs Aware on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Contact

Katie Rivers, Office of the CEO

3450 3^rd Street, Ste 201

San Francisco, CA 94124

krivers@centerforyouthwellness.org

centerforyouthwellness.org