Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts
About
Task Force on Trauma-Informed Courts Plans More Progress in 2025
Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts Final Report
All Things Judicial Focuses on the Chief Justice's Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts' Final Report
The mission of the Task Force is to enable Judicial Branch stakeholders to understand the impact on children of exposure to ACEs (adverse childhood experiences; adverse community environments); and to develop strategies for addressing adverse consequences within our court system.
To accomplish this mission, the Task Force will:
- Provide judges and court administrators with practical education on the effects of ACEs;
- Equip juvenile court officials to recognize young offenders and victims impacted by ACEs;
- Identify existing programs and design new programs that intervene in the lives of young ACEs offenders and victims affected by ACEs to put them on a path away from the courthouse and into a successful adult life; and
- Provide a platform from which court officials can offer feedback to educators regarding their experiences, with the hope of creating further avenues for research on this important topic.
Read about the Bolch Judicial Institute's Trauma-Informed Court program at Duke University School of Law. The program will help educate court officials on ACEs and related issues.
Resources
- Building a Resilient and Trauma-Informed North Carolina (NCIOM)
- Building Healthy and Resilient Communities One Community at a Time (Smart Start)
- Healthy Communities NC
- Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Online Training for Faith, Spiritual, and Religious Communities
- This free online training is designed to help faith, spiritual, and religious leaders, staff members, volunteers, and others who serve children and families understand their role in preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
- More resources and information about this training from the CDC’s Injury Prevention & Control: Division of Violence Prevention are available online.
- Resilient NC Report (Kellin Foundation) - full report and executive summary
- Resilient North Carolina
Members
The Task Force members are appointed by Chief Justice Paul Newby and are representative of all stakeholder groups within our court system: judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, clerks, law enforcement, private attorneys, and child-representatives, as well as academic leaders. This talented, experienced, and diverse group is supplemented with an advisory group made up of subject matter experts as well as representatives from law schools, universities, the Executive Branch, and private foundations.
