Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful or traumatic experiences that occur in childhood. Prolonged exposure to trauma such as abuse or neglect, as well as to things like poverty, racism, and community violence, can create toxic stress. Over time, toxic stress can damage a child’s developing brain and body. ACEs can even affect long-term physical and mental health.
ACEs represent a public health crisis. In fact, cumulative adversity is a root cause of some of the most harmful, persistent, and expensive health challenges facing California and the nation, including 9 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States.