Indiana School Mental Health Initiative

Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University

  • Where is the best place to improve the social, emotional, and mental health of as many people as we possibly could? Answer: Our schools.
  • Stressed brains do not learn the same as brains that feel safe, feel connection, and can manage emotions.
  • Resilient school staff and students lead to resilient and thriving families, and communities.
    • About ISMHI

CONTACT US
Cathy Pratt, Ph.D., ISMHI Director
prattc@indiana.edu
Christy Gauss, M.S.W., ISMHI Facilitator
jcgauss@indiana.edu
(812) 855-6508

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HomeSchoolsAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
  • Videos
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  • Talking Points
  • ❓ This search function will provide results from state and national resources specific to school social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health.

ACEs Primer

This video outlines the impact of ACEs and why they are important to understanding the root cause of many negative individual and community outcomes across all of our systems, including education. (4:49 minutes)

The Science of Adversity

Pamela Cantor, M.D., explains how ACEs effect school performance and how we can use this information to design better learning environments for children. (9:41 minutes)

How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime

Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains the lifelong effects ACEs have on health as well as a child’s emotional, social, and cognitive development. (16:02 minutes)

Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences: Building Self-Healing Communities

Building self-healing communities can have a powerful impact on building resiliency in communities and overcoming ACEs.

There’s no such thing as a bad kid in these Spokane, WA, trauma-informed elementary schools.

This school district is changing the way we think about “bad” kids by creating a safe and nurturing environment to help children experiencing stress and trauma.

When Schools Meet Trauma with Understanding, Not Discipline

Crocker College Prep, in New Orleans, is implementing trauma informed schools by treating children experiencing trauma with understanding instead of discipline.

Educational Neuroscience and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Children who experience Adverse Childhood Experience face significant challenges to performing well in the classroom, so what can schools do to help them overcome this?

Stress & Early Brain Growth: Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences

This fact sheet outlines the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences and how fostering resilience can help reduce those effects.

Websites

For more information on ACEs, visit these websites.

Talking Points for ACEs

  • 36% of children ages 0-17 in Indiana have 1-2 ACEs
  • Nearly 1 in 6 Indiana children have experienced 1 or more ACEs
  • 21.3% of Indiana high school students have a parent who served time in jail
  • More than 1 in 10 Hoosier children ages 0-17 have lived with someone who was mentally ill or suicidal

Childhood Trauma Talking Points

  • In 2015, there were 26,892 substantiated instances of child abuse and neglect
  • From June 2011 to June 2016, the number of Child in Need of Services (CHINS) cases increased by 56.1%