Part one in a new series highlighting the emerging work of the Southland Initiative, which focuses on the damaging effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It wasn’t until a backyard barbecue that siblings Audrey and David Soglin realized they had been grappling with the same problem independently for years. Their collaboration would form a unique connection between healthcare and education, and the initiative has grown to include several key partners from across the state. At the center of the initiative are three areas of focus: primary care, psychological & emotional health and parent support & education.

Learn how the Partnership for Resilience, originally known as the “Southland Education and Health Initiative,” is working with teachers, administrators, and health care professionals to meet the needs of students impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This second installment of a series shows how dedicated and caring educators in Calumet Park School District 132 boosted parent engagement, expanded dental care for students, and moved toward becoming “trauma-informed.” In schools where 90% of students are low-income, out of school suspensions were reduced significantly, expulsions eliminated, and strong connections forged between teachers, administrators, union leaders, and students.

As currently constituted, schools alone aren’t capable of doing the job society has asked them to do. Academic achievement remains highly correlated with socio-economic income, despite decades of education reform. Paul Reville, founder of the Education Redesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, discussed these challenges and strategies for reform during the Partnership for Resilience conference at Governors State University in June of 2016. With over half of all public school students now classified as low-income, Reville shares what is needed to create a new “education engine” capable of making “all means all” in academic achievement a reality.

• Advocate Health Care
• American Academy of Pediatrics – Illinois Chapter (ICAAP)
• Consortium for Educational Change (CEC)
• Cook County Health and Hospitals System
• Governors State University (GSU)
• Harvard University Education Redesign Lab
• Illinois Education Association (IEA)
• Illinois Federation of Teachers
• Lurie Children’s Hospital Center for Childhood Resilience