Project Period: 2011-2018
Looking for a way to adequately define the depths of the barriers girls, young women, and gender-expansive young people, impacted by public systems and exposure to high levels of violence, abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction face was a persistent barrier to advancing and understanding policy and system change. To address this challenge in 2011, Justice and Joy National Collaborative (operating then under the dba National Crittenton Foundation [TNCF]), in partnership with Dr. Vincent Felitti and the Crittenton family of agencies, administered the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey. This was the first national administration of the ACEs with young people who were system-impacted and receiving services. The knowledge gleaned was crucial in order to advance policies and programs that support the needs and potential of marginalized girls, centering those of color. Justice + Joy believes that ACEs brings the challenges they face to life through a simple ten-item survey, and because everyone has an ACE score, enabling us to relate to each other in that context.
Through webinars, events on Capitol Hill, and more, the findings of our studies in 2012 and 2014 helped to shift the national frame to look at the ACE scores of young people who were system-impacted through a different lens – shifting from a focus on what they did to considering what happened to them. Furthermore, through the data and the involvement of those most impacted, it challenged the absence of trauma-informed supports and services used by public systems and community-based providers.
Summary of Results: Crittenton Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Pilot
Agencies from 18 states participated in the pilot. A total of 1350 usable responses were received from 916 females (70%) and 435 males (30%). While data was gathered for males and females, this first brief focused on the findings gleaned through this pilot specifically for young mothers, with a comparison to the CDC study population and all young women involved with Crittenton family of agencies.
Beyond ACE
In 2014, in partnership with Dr. Roy Wade, a second administration of the ACEs survey in 16 states included additional demographic information, and the pilot use of well-being questions. Well-being questions were added to provide information that would enable a better understanding of the connections between ACEs and well-being. Consistent with the 2012 study, we learned that the girls and young women supported by Crittenton family of agencies have unusually high levels of childhood adversity that are significantly greater than respondents from other ACEs studies.
THE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACES) SURVEY TOOLKIT FOR PROVIDERS
Following the release of Beyond ACE in partnership with Ascend, Aspen Institute, a toolkit was designed as a guide for the community of providers that wished to use the findings of the original ACE study to strengthen their work in the areas of direct services, community education, and policy reform.
You Don’t Know Me – ACE Graphic Novel
The goal of You Don’t Know Me is to provide information to girls and gender-expansive young people about ACEs to support them in making informed choices, understanding their family dynamics (across generations), and getting assistance for themselves and others as needed.
Knowledge is power, and power is what young people need to break generational cycles of chronic adversity in all forms. The ACE graphic novel makes information about ACEs more accessible and easier to grasp for younger audiences. This work was informed by a 2018 convening hosted by National Crittenton for 15 high-school-aged girls from Mississippi, Colorado, Oregon, New York, Kansas, West Virginia, and Florida. Participants attended the two-day convening, which included brainstorming and workshopping sessions, where they learned about the ACE study and actively contributed to the creation of the ACE graphic novel concept, approach, and storyline. Ebony Morris, then 16 years old in 2018, created the artwork for the novel.
