PACEs Policy and Advocacy

State Legislation Related to ACEs

PACEs Connection tracks and reports on state legislation, drawing largely upon the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) database of bills that address ACEs, childhood trauma, child adversity, and toxic stress.

You can look up enacted/approved bills and resolutions that specifically address ACEs by state on this PACEs Connection site: State ACEs and TI Laws and Resolutions. Summary stories are posted on PACEs Connection twice a year. Here is the most recent PACEs Connection story:

• 2011-2021—Update on a decade of steady growth in PACEs, ACEs and TI laws and resolutions in the states
  The steady growth in ACEs and Trauma-Informed laws and resolutions has continued since the last snapshot in PACEs Connection in June 2021. That article reported that state legislatures and governors in dozens of states enacted nearly 60 laws and resolutions that specially reference adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or trauma in the years 2019 and 2020. A new tally shows that in 2021 alone, another 36 laws passed plus one more enacted in New Jersey in 2022.
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Database
  The NCSL database is a major source of information since 2018 for PACEs Connections' review of legislation.

  • Click here for a PACEs Connection post (May 26, 2021) on how to access and use the NCSL database. This post also includes links to your state’s legislative website and to information on state legislature’s convening dates. 

  • NCSL Brief: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (August 2018)