May 2014 ACE Study Summit Report

by admin

On May 29^th & 30^th, 2014 over 200 attendees from all across Montana came to hear presentations by six dynamic speakers. Keynote speakers Dr. Robert Anda, Co-Principal Investigator of The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, and Laura Porter, Co-Founder of ACE Interface, LLC (with Dr. Anda) wowed the crowd with the groundbreaking research of The ACE Study. The Study has found surprisingly high connections between childhood abuse, neglect and household dysfunction with a host of health and behavioral problems later in life. Dr. Anda was a lead investigator of a large-scale study tracking the effects of childhood trauma on health throughout life. The ACE Study gathered life history and medical data from more than 17,000 patients in California.

In addition, ChildWise was pleased to have Intermountain experts: Elizabeth Kohlstaedt, Ph.D., Chief Clinical Officer presenting on, “Heads of the Hydra: It’s All about Relationships”; Kristin Best, LCSW, Clinical Supervisor presented on “Building Security in the Community” and Kimberly Gardner, LCSW, LAC, Lead Clinical Supervisor Community Outpatient Services presented on “And What About Those Teenagers”. Jim Caringi, Ph.D., Director and Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Montana presented on “ACEs and Systems Change: Mapping the course to create change personally, professionally, and organizationally”. Laura Porter led discussion groups with questions like: Given All We Are Interested in Doing – What is Radically Right That We are Building On? Please see link to “Table Host Notes” with many great suggestions!

The theme of the summit, “Elevate Montana” gained tremendous support and momentum from Educators, Legislators, Juvenile Justice, Head Start, Early Childhood Coalitions, Best Beginnings, Child Care Providers, Non-Profits, Mental Health Professionals…along with many more, all with the goal of elevating the well-being and future of Montana’s children.

With the tremendous success of The ACE Study Summits, ChildWise is pleased to announce we are starting The ACE Master Trainer Program. This program will educate parents and professionals about the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, advance awareness and knowledge of resilience strategies and evidenced-based trauma-informed practices, as well as facilitating new and enhanced collaborations to mitigate toxic stress in children. Through this Master Trainer Program, ChildWise will mobilize these Certified ACE Study trainers across Montana with specific plans for each one to train people by geographic area and affinity groups, as well as to train Certified Presenters, which will further penetrate Montana communities. The training will take place in October and result in 25 Master Trainers representing all regions across Montana.

We were thrilled and honored to have Governor Steve Bullock close our Summit with his inspiring remarks and support to elevate the well-being of our children and families.

We want to thank you too for your dedication and support of ChildWise Institute…collectively and collaboratively we can accomplish great things for our children!

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” Nelson Mandela