Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 12.
Dr. Paula Zeanah, licensed psychologist an Endowed Chair in Nursing at the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, and Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Professor of Psychology, both at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette worked to organize the first summit of its kind in Louisiana, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Summit.
The summit took place March 28-29, 2019, at the River Oaks Conference Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The summit was funded through the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund and co-sponsored by the statewide ACE Initiative, ULL's College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, Department of Psychology, and the Picard Center.
The theme was "Promoting a Culture of CARE (Collaboration, Advocacy, Research, Education) for Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect in Louisiana."
Goals for the attendees included to:
• Understand the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) in Louisiana;
• Describe the current status of efforts to educate professionals and communities;
• Identify opportunities for collaboration among established, emerging, and future community-based efforts to build resilience and prevent child abuse and neglect;
• Recognize evidence-based strategies to identify and intervene with children who have experienced trauma, abuse and neglect.
Dr. Zeanah presented, "State of ACEs in Louisiana," with Anna Bales, MPH, Bureau of Family Health.
"ACEs Basics: Understanding the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences," was presented by Lisa Donze – Jacobs, LCSW, from Mercy Family Center, and Cynthia Suire DNP, MSN, RN UL Lafayette.
Invited speakers included Chandra Ghosh Ippen, Associate Director of the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco and the Director of Dissemination for Child-Parent Psychotherapy, and Colleen A. Kraft, MD, FAAP, current president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Paula Zeanah (above) and Dr. Hung-Chu Lin at ULL organized the first ACE Summit.
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