The Supporting Trauma Awareness and Nurturing Children’s Environment (STANCE) project is a multi-level, multi-generational, community-based intervention to decrease the cycle of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and promote protective factors for young children and their families. This project was designed with the San Luis Valley (SLV) of Colorado through a long-standing community-academic partnership with a community advisory board.
The STANCE components include:
1) Building infrastructure in early childhood education (ECE) settings to conduct universal screenings for early detection of ACEs.
2) implementing evidence-based programs to promote socioemotional development in young children.
3) strengthening the community network of care to support better young children and families struggling with ACEs.
The STANCE project was implemented across 15 ECE programs,
reaching over 300 teachers, 1,700 children, and 90 families. STANCE
significantly improved children’s social-emotional skills, including empathy,
engagement, and self-control. Additionally, there was a noticeable increase in
teachers’ application of social-emotional teaching practices, and increased
confidence and knowledge among parents regarding the promotion of their
children’s social-emotional development. STANCE also elevated community awareness
concerning ACEs and benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) and improved
collaboration within the network of care, particularly in terms of information
and data sharing among participating organizations.
STANCE findings are being disseminated across our local, state, regional, and national partner networks. Dissemination products to promote STANCE include a STANCE infographic promoted on social media, a podcast highlighting the STANCE-related community work in early childhood within the SLV, and the STANCE toolkit.
This toolkit was supported by the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center (RMPRC) as a dissemination and translation tool for the STANCE (Supporting Trauma Awareness and Nurturing Children’s Environments) intervention, funded by the CDC (5U48DP006399-02-00).
Developed collaboratively by the RMRPC and the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center, with input from participating early childhood education and community organizations in the San Luis Valley, the toolkit provides background on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and children’s social-emotional development, details on STANCE program components, and recommendations for program sustainability and evaluation.
The STANCE team is currently providing technical assistance to other Colorado ECE organizations as they utilize the toolkit in their implementation and translation efforts of STANCE. In the upcoming year, we plan to further disseminate the STANCE toolkit across Colorado, Region 8, and beyond.
Please complete our registration form to access the toolkit.