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SYNC, ACEs, and getting to the root of children's wellbeing

On this episode, WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman sat down with reporter Rachel Keith to talk about the work of SYNC — Strengthening Systems for NC Children. Keith joined about 20 other members who, starting last August, worked to develop a better, broader understanding of how adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, impact the quality of life for children in New Hanover County.

On today’s show, we’re talking about the work of Strengthening Systems for NC Children, or SYNC. It’s a state-funded program that brings together experts from education, social services, law enforcement, and other government and non-profit fields.

In the most general sense, SYNC is looking to find better ways to take care of children. That involves a lot of different agencies and organizations — many of which are often focused on one particular issue, or lack the funding to scale up from a specific program or region. For that reason, SYNC examines ways to help these organizations see some of the bigger picture, and the ways that many issues — say, a child’s behavior in the classroom and the availability of nutritious, affordable food in their neighborhood — might be deeply related, even if those two issues are treated as separate problems by separate nonprofits or agencies.

The program rolled out in three counties, including New Hanover, where about 20 members convened over about five to six months. My colleague Rachel Keith was invited to join them, based on her deep reporting on ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences.

And understanding ACES is really crucial to understanding SYNC’s work. We’ll have links on the show page to some of Rachel’s past reporting, but basically, ACEs are some of the traumatic experiences people have in childhood — ranging from various forms of abuse and neglect to environmental issues like crime or poverty in their neighborhood, as well as food and housing insecurity.

These aren’t just anecdotal connections, either. Back in 1998, the CDC published a seminal paper, showing that ACEs, if left unaddressed, can lead to seriously negative health outcomes, like cancers, depression, stroke, diabetes, and overall shortened life expectancy — conditions that cost billions to combat.

The crucial caveat there is “if left unaddressed.” Studies show that you can counteract ACEs with what some experts call protective and compensatory experiences, or PACES. If you’ve heard stories about people who pulled themselves through a traumatic childhood because of a loving parent, or a mentor, or a group — maybe a sports team, a band, or a club — those are all PACEs.

The most advanced level of work with ACEs is reducing and preventing them from taking a toll on children in the first place. That means taking a hard look at issues like violence, poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and other deeply entrenched issues. These are the toughest challenges facing our communities, and there’s not always agreement on how to tackle them. But helping to get a shared understanding of what these problems are — and who has which resources to help address them — is a good place to start.

Some of this is heady stuff, but as we’ll talk about today, SYNC is geared toward creating some practical, usable results. And, throughout the show, we'll be hearing from the group's four core team members:

Reporting/Resources

Rachel is a graduate of UNCW's Master of Public Administration program, specializing in Urban and Regional Policy and Planning. She also received a Master of Education and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and French Language & Literature from NC State University. She served as WHQR's News Fellow from 2017-2019. Contact her by email: rkeith@whqr.org or on Twitter @RachelKWHQR
Ben Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature. He loves spending time with his wife and playing rock'n'roll very loudly. You can reach him at BSchachtman@whqr.org and find him on Twitter @Ben_Schachtman.