The Problem Our Approach Fighting ACEs

Center for Child Counseling’s work with children and families is effective and beneficial to the children and families served; however, like many communities, the recognition of missed opportunities for healing and even unintentional re-traumatization of the most vulnerable children by interactions with systems that were not aware of, or designed to mitigate the effects of trauma called for a different approach

Through decades of clinical experience, it became apparent that Palm Beach County community sector policies and practices were often uninformed by the latest ACEs research or the impact of the system on the child and family In some cases, the system and community sectors were unintentionally doing harm by the missed opportunity to buffer the effects of ACEs Center for Child Counseling saw it as an imperative to have a greater impact for the most vulnerable

This common silo-ing of knowledge and service delivery is not unique to Palm Beach County and are often driven by professional barriers The bottom up approach of building the capacity of individuals and caregivers should be amplified through the education and engagement of community systems and sectors in which the children and families interact and are impacted by

In 2016, Center for Child Counseling approached Quantum Foundation with a solution Building awareness and the capacity of Palm Beach County to recognize and address the impact of ACEs.

The Fighting ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Initiative was launched to bring the science to practice in Palm Beach County

Center for Child Counseling’s Fighting ACEs Initiative is promoting a Public Health Approach to serve Palm Beach County at all levels, both bottom up and top down: individuals, caregiver and peer relationships, community sectors and now the larger "society" of Palm Beach County, within the context and in partnership with other community- wide efforts

Center for Child Counseling is a uniquely qualified leader for the Fighting ACEs Initiative The expertise and experience of serving infants, young children, and caregivers experiencing adversity and trauma through trauma-informed Play Therapy and other evidence-based treatment models in homes, schools, and the community is crucial to understanding and guiding partners on buffering, nurturing attachment, and resilience building

The process of supporting a child, their family, and caregivers through abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, mental health, death, violence, suicide, etc and other adverse experiences has created a keen awareness of the urgency to mitigate the circumstances that underlie and perpetuate individual, family, and community trauma.

The Fighting ACEs initiative aims to raise awareness about the impact of adversity and trauma in childhood on health and wellness throughout the lifespan Since it launched in 2016, thousands of caregivers, professionals, and community sector leaders have been engaged

With the help of forward-thinking Palm Beach County funders (including the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida Blue, and Lost Tree Foundations), partners, and initiatives such as Birth to 22, Center for Child Counseling’s traumainformed community approach includes evidence-based ACEs screening in childcare and pediatric settings, community-wide ACEs awareness efforts, and through the organization’s Education and Prevention Services, building the community's capacity to buffer the effects of ACEs through appropriate prevention, education, and early intervention strategies