Building Community Resilience Approach, Framework Published in Special Issue of Academic Pediatrics

In September, a special issue of Academic Pediatrics highlighting the research, policies and practices around childhood trauma features the article, “A New Framework for Addressing Adverse Childhood and Community Experiences: The Building Community Resilience Model,” co-authored by Wendy Ellis, DrPH candidate and Bill Dietz, Chair of the Redstone Center. Ellis and Dietz are co-principal investigators on the work of the Building Community Resilience (BCR) learning collaborative at the Redstone Center. The article describes the interplay between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the context of adverse community environments (ACEs), which the two have coined the ‘Pair of ACEs.’ The article also outlines the development of the BCR process as a means to help health care, local public health, city agencies, education and other sectors coordinate and align resources to prevent and address childhood and community adversity, and promote equity. This BCR process is being employed at the five BCR test sites in the collaborative (Cincinnatti, OH, Portland, OR, Dallas, TX, Washington, DC, Wilmingoton, DE).