ACEs Awareness Initiative for Seacoast New Hampshire and Southern Maine
Pinetree Institute is launching a three-year ACEs Awareness Initiative for the Seacoast NH and Southern ME region including the Eastern portion of Rockingham County, Strafford County, and York County, Maine. The foundation of this initiative will be the preparation of an initial cohort of Master Trainers who will be equipped to provide ACEs and trauma-informed education to every sector of the community including schools, law enforcement, social services, addiction specialists, medical services and other community leaders. The training and materials the Master Trainers will receive is based on the process developed by Ace Interface, an ACEs education and support service founded by Dr. Rob Anda, one of the authors of the original Kaiser/CDC ACE study, and Laura Porter, who was among the first to apply this research to highly successful trauma informed programs across Washington State.
Dr. Anda and Ms. Porter themselves will directly train the initial group of 30 Master Trainers on September 17-18, and on September 25th, 2020 and will offer extensive materials and curriculum options for unlimited use over a three-year period. Pinetree Institute will supply on-going education and support for the Master Trainers including regular touch-back sessions, best practices sharing, and the latest research as it becomes available. Pinetree will also provide marketing support, online access to training materials, and resources for the general public.
There are two primary community roles which are part of this process:
- Master Trainers who, once they have completed the September training program, will make key presentations across the region and will train Community Champions to share ACEs information with others
- Community Champions who, once trained by a Master Trainer, will serve as a resource and share information about ACEs within their own organizations and communities
Objectives of the ACEs Awareness Initiative:
The primary goal of the ACES Awareness Initiative is to carry the message of Adverse Childhood Experiences and trauma-informed approaches to every sector of the community, reaching as many people as possible in a three-year period. Some of these groups will be addressed directly by Master Trainers. Many more will be reached by Community Champions.
The Initiative will target the following populations with tailored approaches to each:
- Professionals serving ACEs-impacted populations: educators, mental health professionals, law enforcement officers, justice system personnel, medical professionals, faith community leaders, and others working with ACEs-impacted individuals and families
- Business and Community Leaders: business leaders, particularly executives and HR personnel; community leaders; members, staff, and volunteers of civic organizations and other nonprofits; and other engaged citizens who are impacted by the challenges of dealing with ACEs
- General public: parents, grandparents and families; school age children; young adults; and individuals who are experiencing health issues due to the impact of ACEs.
Components of the Initiative
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Initial corps of up to 30 Master Trainers trained directly by Dr. Anda and Ms. Porter through three days of intensive training session supported with materials, curriculum options, and presentation formats for various audiences
- A comeraderie-building 2-hour group orientation held on September 10, 2020
- Regular touch-back sessions run by Pinetree Institute to share outcomes, problem-solve difficult situations, share best practices, and identify opportunities for extended reach into the community including on-going development of Community Champions
- Online access to training materials, video and other media, and marketing materials to support successful community engagement sessions
- Online community resource base for individuals taking part in education sessions
- Identification of best practices – both those currently being used by communities and those created as a result of this process – for inclusion in the online resource base
- Tracking of individuals engaged in the process (number of people taking part in ACEs awareness and trauma-informed education sessions)
- Strategic deployment of training sessions and development of Community Champions in order to reach underserved individuals and communities
- Identification of metrics for tracking the impact on significant public health outcomes
- Compilation of program insights to be shared in educational workshops and during the annual Pinetree Resilience Conference