Essentials for Childhood (EfC): Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences through Data to Action

Essentials for Childhood (EfC): Preventing Adversity through Data to Action, a cooperative agreement designed to support states in the prevention of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and promotion of positive childhood experiences (PCEs). ACEs are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years) such as experiencing or witnessing violence, experiencing neglect; witnessing violence in the home. Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding such as growing up in a household with substance use problems, mental health problems, or instability due to parental separation or incarceration of a parent, sibling or other member of the household. ACEs can have significant consequences, including associations with poor health outcomes (e.g., asthma, cancer, heart disease), health risk behaviors (e.g., current smoking and heavy drinking), mental health challenges (depression, anxiety), and socioeconomic challenges (e.g., unemployment and no health insurance). The three primary goals of this NOFO are to 1) enhance a state-level surveillance infrastructure that ensures the capacity to collect, analyze, and use ACE and PCE data to inform ACE prevention strategies and approaches; 2) support the implementation of data-driven, comprehensive, evidence-based ACE primary prevention strategies and approaches, particularly with a focus on health equity; and 3) conduct data to action activities on an ongoing basis to inform changes or adaptations to existing strategies or selection and implementation of additional strategies. Health equity is the attainment of the highest level of health for all people. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and healthcare disparities.Health inequities are health differences or disparities that are systematic, unfair, and avoidable. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, learn, work, and age. The goal is for everyone to attain equitable access to life circumstances such as education, occupation, and income to achieve optimal health, well-being, and safety. To support these goals, recipients are expected to leverage multi-sector partnerships and resources to improve ACE and PCE surveillance infrastructures and the coordination and implementation of ACE prevention strategies across the state and, for some recipients, communities within the state. As a result, there will be increased state capacity to develop and sustain a surveillance system that collects, uses, and disseminates data on ACEs and PCEs, including data used to identify health inequities; and increased implementation and reach of ACE prevention strategies that help to promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments where children live, learn and play.

All applicants may apply for the optional enhanced activities. Applicants applying for the enhanced activities will be required to do one or more additional activities as described in the Approach, Evaluation and Performance Measurement, and Organizational Capacity sections of this NOFO.Applicants applying for the optional enhanced activities must clearly state their intent to apply for these activities in the project abstract. Funding for these activities will not be considered if it is not clearly stated in the project abstract.