On November 30, 2022, Pathways to Resilience hosted a Learning Network session highlighting the importance of involving people with lived experience in the design and implementation of policies and programs that impact them. The session featured Cherene Caracao, founder and CEO of Promise Resource Network and Pathways to Resilience Expert Advisory Committee member, and William Kellibrew, international advocate for survivors of trauma. The discussion considered barriers to engaging people with lived experience, highlighted successful policymaking born from the efforts of survivors, and offered strategies for uplifting the voice and choice of people with lived experience.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Education, Health

One in seven children in the United States experiences child abuse and/or neglect each year, resulting in an array of adverse outcomes, including chronic pain, psychological concerns (anxiety, anger and aggression, depression, and suicidal thoughts or ideation), and poor or delayed social and behavioral development. There are a variety of risk factors surrounding child abuse and neglect including poverty, violence within the community, exposure to racism and discrimination, substance abuse, social isolation, and having caregivers who also experienced childhood adversity. Further, the trauma from these experiences can contribute to an intergenerational cycle of continued abuse and neglect. Child abuse and neglect has an estimated lifetime economic burden of over $590 billion nationwide – including short- and long-term health care and child welfare costs, criminal justice processes, special education costs, and lost productivity.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health, Justice, Social Services

One in seven children in the United States experiences child abuse and/or neglect each year, resulting in an array of adverse outcomes, including chronic pain, psychological concerns (anxiety, anger and aggression, depression, and suicidal thoughts or ideation), and poor or delayed social and behavioral development. There are a variety of risk factors surrounding child abuse and neglect including poverty, violence within the community, exposure to racism and discrimination, substance abuse, social isolation, and having caregivers who also experienced childhood adversity. Further, the trauma from these experiences can contribute to an intergenerational cycle of continued abuse and neglect. Child abuse and neglect has an estimated lifetime economic burden of over $590 billion nationwide – including short- and long-term health care and child welfare costs, criminal justice processes, special education costs, and lost productivity.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Education, Health, Social Services

During the October 2022 convening of the Arizona House’s Ad Hoc Committee on Teen Mental Health, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) presented statewide data on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ADHS representatives noted that Arizona currently ranks 44th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for number of children with two or more ACEs. Data from 2018 found that 18% of residents have experienced between 3 and 8 ACEs; and data from 2019-2020 illustrates that Arizona youth have a higher prevalence of ACEs in 10 out of 12 categories compared to nationwide averages. Arizona’s Department of Health Services has announced a three-part plan to reduce exposure to ACEs and mitigate the impacts of trauma and toxic stress on youth development.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health

Trauma-responsive organizations support both the clients they serve and the staff who are critical to their success. Frontline staff working within systems that respond to trauma carry a high risk for the physical, mental, and behavioral health risks that come from secondary traumatic stress. Building a trauma-responsive organization can create an environment to provide compassionate, collaborative programming for clients, and support a happy, healthy, and resilient workforce. On April 10, 2023 Pathways to Resilience hosted a Learning Network session featuring Justin Brown, Oklahoma Secretary of Human Services; Vickie Choitz from the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce’s Trauma and Resilience at Work team, and Audrey Smolkin from Massachusetts’ Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma to discuss how to support a trauma-responsive workplace that promotes healing and resilience.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health

Pathways to Resilience provides a national forum to help states and communities advance healing-centered, trauma-responsive policies and programs across sectors. With a growing understanding of the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the benefits of protective factors and primary intervention strategies on mitigating the impact of trauma and toxic stress, an increasing number of states are creating dedicated offices, leadership roles, task forces, and committees to address trauma and advance strategies to promote resilience and healing. To leverage existing efforts and expertise and support growth in this area, we serve as a convenor of state and national leaders in a collaborative effort to document, build upon, and share best practices.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health

On September 21, Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, was joined by Amy Meyertholen, MSW with the Arizona Council of Human Service Providers and Dr. Elaine Rankin with the Cottonwood Oak Creek School District to discuss how the Neurosequential Model can help people respond to and care for children in developmentally appropriate ways in different settings.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health

It is important for employers to train and equip their staff to recognize trauma behaviors. In a school setting, this might mean educators are able to distinguish between a child’s survival behavior as opposed to willful misbehaving. In the justice setting — where the population served is likely to have experienced trauma — this might entail judges, chiefs, and officers receiving training in trauma-informed approaches in the court or corrections setting.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health

Pawan Bareja, PhD, is a trauma resolution practitioner who teaches trauma-informed mindfulness meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in San Francisco, California. Mindfulness meditation is an evidence-based “stress buster” that can be used to regulate the stress response and promote healing.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Education, Health

Dr. Gilgoff is a child abuse pediatrician and serves as a member of the Pathways to Resilience Expert Advisory Committee. She has been a clinical advisor to the California ACEs Aware initiative since 2020. Dr. Gilgoff has worked at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital & Research Center and helped develop and implement the Pediatric ACEs and Related Life Events (PEARLS) study as a co-investigator with the Bay Area Research Consortium. Her work now focuses on prevention efforts and program development and aims to incorporate trauma interventions into routine pediatric clinical practice.
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Resource Type: Publications
Sectors: Early Childhood, Education, Health