Carey Sipp 5/2/261:13 PM

Special presentation and Q & A with Dr. Rebecca Bryan, Executive Director of the New Jersey Office of Resilience — Tuesday, May 12, 1:00 p.m. ET

For years, many of us in the PACEs science community have believed that positive childhood experiences — PCEs — are not just the other side of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The science tells us they are protective. They are preventive. And now, in a significant milestone for the science, PCEs are being measured as a part of the nation’s premier public health survey system.

“Essential, measurable, actionable”

PCEs, as an optional questions module, have been added to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world’s largest, ongoing, state-based telephone survey system. Conducted since 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), BRFSS data is gathered in partnership with state health departments, and tracks health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.

Measuring PCEs was first adopted by Wisconsin in 2015, and have since been included in at least five other states’ surveys in recent years. In addition to Wisconsin, states using all seven PCE items are Kansas, Montana, South Carolina, and New Jersey. Tennessee and California have added at least one PCE item.

“…gathering population-level data on the experiences that protect and heal — not just the ones that harm.’

“What’s important and exciting about PCEs being measured in the BRFSS is that, for the first time, we are gathering population-level data on the experiences that protect and heal — not just the ones that harm,” said Rebecca Bryan, DNP, NP, Executive Director of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Office of Resilience. “It is a milestone for the science — and a signal that policymakers and public health leaders are beginning to see PCEs for what the research has long shown them to be: essential, measurable, and actionable.”

On Tuesday, May 12, at 1:00 p.m. ET, Bryan will join PACEs Connection’s monthly Community Manager and Cooperative of Communities meeting to share what this means — and what it can mean for communities across the country.

About Rebecca Bryan, DNP, NP

As  the Executive Director of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Office of Resilience, Dr. Bryan’s role puts her at the forefront of translating PACEs science into policy and practice at the state level. A former primary care nurse practitioner with decades of experience, she is certified in Adult Learning and Lakeside Global Institute’s Trauma Competency, well-published in healthcare journals, a former adjunct professor, and a veteran of both the New Jersey and Philadelphia ACEs Task Forces.

Her compelling personal journey to “the root of why.”

“I do this work because it gets to what I like to call ‘the root of why,'” said Dr. Bryan. “As a former primary care NP, I had trusting, safe relationships spanning 16 years with adult patients — and yet could not get to root causes of issues like tobacco addiction, severe anxiety, and morbid obesity. I was never taught to screen for ACEs,” she said.

Her work with youth in Camden, New Jersey deepened that conviction. “I worked with kids who could write — and deliver at a SLAM (Synthesis, Literacy, Arts, Media poetry event)— deeply wise poetry, yet would get suspended and would have difficulty retaining new knowledge. ACEs science explained all of it,” she said.

Knowing ACEs was not enough: “Identities rooted in trauma.”

“Focusing solely on ACEs can lead to an identity rooted in trauma,” Dr. Bryan said. “PCEs co-exist with ACEs, have a mitigating impact on risks conferred by ACEs, and the body of research since 2019 is clearly demonstrating PCE impact on adult health and well-being. PCEs show us what to do — and create space to ask questions like, ‘What are the barriers to children experiencing safe and stable nurturing relationships?,'” she said.

Her image of that interplay is striking: “I have this image of childhood adversity landing in a nest of PCEs — which are a proxy for relational health — and the PCEs having the power to prevent adversity from embedding as trauma,” she said.

(Graphic – mezzosolutions.com)

Dr. Bryan will share data from the HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) research initiative at Tufts Medical Center, one of the leading bodies of work advancing our understanding of how positive experiences shape health and well-being across the lifespan.

About the Meeting

The PACEs Connection Community Manager and Cooperative of Communities monthly meeting brings together community managers for updates on PACEs Connection, PACEs communities, PACEs science, and the broader movement to prevent and heal childhood trauma worldwide. Meetings are one hour and held monthly.

Community managers and others who would like to attend are invited to email Dana Brown with their email address to be added to the list of invitees at dana.pacescommunities@gmail.com. Please put “PACEs Monthly Meeting” in the subject line.

WHAT: PACEs Connection Community Manager & County-wide Cooperative of Communities Facilitators Monthly Meeting featuring Dr. Rebecca Bryan TOPIC: Positive Childhood Experiences — What the Science Shows, What the Data Tells Us, and Why It Matters Now WHEN: Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | 1:00 p.m. ET WHERE: Virtual — by invitation RSVP: Email Dana Brown at dana.pacescommunities@gmail.com or carey.pacescommunities@gmail with your email address to receive the meeting link.