Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO

Mitigating Stress During the COVID-19 Crisis:

Interprofessional Provider Engagement Collaboration to Promote ACEs Screening and Improve Mental Health Outcomes in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties

First and Third Wednesdays
12:15 - 1:30pm,  January - June 2021

What is Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO?

California's ACEs Aware Initiative seeks to help pediatrics health care providers and community partners screen for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and implement the principles of trauma-informed care into practice.

Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO uses the highly interactive Project ECHO® model to allow participants to connect, engage and share valuable knowledge about the ACEs Aware Initiative within a supportive community of clinicians and interagency partners.  Project ECHO® is an innovative tele-education outreach model that uses Zoom teleconferencing to gather people and share information.


    "The impacts of ACEs and toxic stress are treatable. We can screen for ACEs, respond with evidence-based trauma informed care, and significantly improve the health and well-being of individuals and families."

– Dr. Nadine Burke Harris,
California Surgeon General
 

The Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO is a Network of Care collaborative offering twice-monthly tele-education and tele-mentoring sessions to promote screening and treatment of children at risk for ACEs in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo Counties in California. The Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO addresses urgent geographic, racial, and socioeconomic disparities to promote health equity and improve health outcomes within highly vulnerable populations.

By engaging our community partners in conversations about the California's ACEs Aware Initiative, we uncover systems-level barriers and opportunities to improve trauma-informed care in our counties. Stanford will serve as the “hub” site with a team of multispecialty experts to work in partnership with “spoke” sites (community providers, clinics and interagency partners). "Spoke" sites bring de-identified real-life cases to the sessions to collaborate towards solutions and provide and receive support. Stanford's "hub" team facilitates discussion of these cases to promote dissemination of knowledge, treatments, and resources. Together, we are creating a Network of Care to build a community dedicated to providing evidence-based trauma-informed care.

Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO: Screen, Treat, Heal

Screen for ACEs

Screening for ACEs and providing targeted, evidence-based interventions for identified toxic stress improves outcomes for families and children. Trauma-informed care improves the quality of healthcare interactions, provides support for individual and family well-being, and reduces long-term morbidity and healthcare cost.

The Department of Health Care Services approved specific tools to be used and questions to be asked for pediatric and adult ACE screenings. The Pediatric ACEs Screening and Related Life-events Screener (PEARLS) was developed for children and adolescents by the Bay Area Consortium on Toxic Stress and Health (BARC), a partnership between the Center for Youth Wellness, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Providers who use PEARLS screeners can receive Medi-Cal reimbursement annually.

 

Treat: Science & Clinical Practice

Toxic stress is reduced through evidence-based treatments. During our sessions, we disseminate existing toolkits and gather effective targeted responses that can be used in our community when a child screens positive for ACEs.

Heal: Resources & Educational Events

Real solutions exist to heal trauma. Throughout California, resources are available to help families heal from the many sources of trauma, including the trauma caused by COVID-19. Our network gathers and disseminates resources for trauma-informed care. We are connecting medical providers, mental health providers, educators and representatives from community agencies to promote a system of care that maximizes community strengths and results in real healing within our community. Healing requires addressing social determinants of health as essential for improving health and reducing longstanding disparities in health and health care.

 

Map of

Trauma-Informed

Resources

Stanford ACEs Aware ECHO is an ACEs Aware Grantee.

ACEs Aware is funded through the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Additional support is provided by Stanford Children's Health, Project ECHO® and Stanford School of Medicine Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.