Statewide ACEs Initiatives

California is leading the nation in supporting health care teams and communities to prevent, identify, and respond to ACEs and toxic stress.

A young, happy family holds hands and runs together through a grassy field in a park, surrounded by trees

The following are resources made available through state-sponsored efforts across California, including this initiative, ACEs Aware.

ACEs Aware

This initiative, ACEs Aware, was launched with the goal of significantly reducing ACEs and toxic stress in children, adults, and families by training health care teams to screen and respond to ACEs and toxic stress and catalyzing the development of Trauma-Informed Networks of Care to support stronger ties between health care settings and community partners.

  • Becoming ACEs Aware in California Training
    The flagship training for the ACEs Aware initiative, Becoming ACEs Aware in California is based on the foundational principle that toxic stress can be treated. This free, two-hour, online course covers ACEs, toxic stress, ACE screening, toxic stress risk assessment, and trauma-informed care, and provides health care teams with evidence-based strategies to mitigate the toxic stress response.

Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI)

CYBHI is part of the Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, an historic investment by the State of California that takes a “whole child” approach to address the factors that contribute to improving the mental health and well-being of our children and youth.

  • Safe Spaces Training
    Developed by CA-OSG, Safe Spaces is a free, online training designed to help individuals who work with children and youth to recognize and respond to signs of trauma and stress.

Live Beyond

In May 2024, the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) in partnership with CYBHI launched the Live Beyond campaign (livebeyondca.org) to focus primarily on reaching youth and young adults, followed by parents and caregivers of older youth, and equip them with the knowledge, resources, and strategies they need to understand what ACEs are and how ACEs may affect them, along with tools to help manage toxic stress and heal from adversity.

Stronger Starts

First 5 California launched the Stronger Starts campaign (first5california.strongerstarts.com) in 2023 to help parents and caregivers learn about toxic stress, the physical, mental, and emotional effects of toxic stress on children, and how ACEs can lead to the development of toxic stress.

Number Story

Number Story (numberstory.org) is a tool from the ACE Resource Network that allows people to explore their own ACE score as a powerful first step to understanding and healing from ACEs and toxic stress.

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    1. The PEARLS Tool. The PEARLS tool is a unique tool that assess for both Adverse Childhood Experiences (“ACEs”) such as abuse, neglect, and household challenges, and related events, such as discrimination, food insecurity, and community violence, thought to be risk factors for toxic stress. The PEARLS tool was made in the course of research under the auspices of the Children’s Hospital Research Center at Oakland (“BCHO”) and the University of California, San Francisco. BCHO has licensed the PEARLS tool to DHCS and provided DHCS with the right to sublicense the PEARLS tool.
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