Prevention Strategies
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have lasting, negative effects on health, well-being, and opportunity. ACEs and their associated harms are preventable. Creating and sustaining safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children and families can prevent ACEs and help all children reach their full health and life potential.
Preventing ACEs requires addressing factors at all levels of the social ecology—the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.
CDC has produced a resource, Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the Best Available Evidencepdf icon, to help states and communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent ACEs. It features six strategies from the CDC Technical Packages to Prevent Violence. The strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.
Preventing ACEs |
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|---|---|
| Strategy | Approach |
| Strengthen economic supports to families |
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| Promote social norms that protect against violence and adversity |
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| Ensure a strong start for children |
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| Teach skills |
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| Connect youth to caring adults and activities |
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| Intervene to lessen immediate and long-term harms |
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