National Adoption Month: Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) resources that support Adoption Social Workers

April Ferguson LCSW-C

November 2026

Adoption Month occurs annually in November, and it is a time to celebrate the experiences of adoptive families and raise awareness of the challenges they face. This year, NASW recognizes adoptive families and adoption social workers while highlighting how NASW’s ACEs resources can support adoption services. Adoptive families open their homes to children and youth, providing stability, love and belonging. Social workers offer supportive interventions to help adoptive families thrive. Collaboration with social workers and adoptive families is crucial to assisting adoptees from the child welfare system that experience various ACEs. ACEs are negative or traumatic events that may have harmful consequences to a child or adult’s health and mental wellbeing across the lifespan. ACEs are linked to poor health, suicides, overdoses, and mental health challenges. Child abuse and neglect are examples of ACEs.

Adoption itself can be a challenging transition and compounding factors of past adversity can create hardship in the future. Trauma prior to adoption can negatively impact development and create psychological difficulties. Children with ACEs, such as parental mental health challenges and substance use struggles, may demonstrate anxiety, aggression and depression. However, adoptive families that offer nurturing environments can help to mitigate these symptoms. In addition, adoptive homes may serve as protective factors when adoptive families demonstrate parental warmth, defined as acceptance and affection toward children. With guidance and support from social workers, adoptive families can increase the capacity to create home environments where children overcome challenges associated with ACEs. Social workers can use the tools below to help adoptive families implement trauma-informed approaches, access early intervention services, and respond effectively to children’s individual needs.

NASW has done extensive work with partners to create and highlight resources that guide ACEs intervention. These resources cover topics that include ACEs and trauma education, trauma treatment options, coping skills development, protective factors and positive child experiences (PCEs).

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Working with Children, Youth and Families
  This Tips and Tools document emphasizes the role of social workers in ACEs prevention, intervention, and advocacy. Learn how appropriate screening tools can identify adoptees that experienced ACEs and assist with intervention planning. Also learn how to increase protective factors in adoptive homes.
• Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Overdose and Suicide. Contact capractice@socialworkers.org to request training availability.
  The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) collaborated with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) through a leadership program titled Champions of Change. This training highlights the innovative methods and practices that social workers can use to help prevent ACEs, overdose, and suicide and help children and families heal. This session is available in-person, online or as a poster presentation. The training can be tailored to include a focus on trauma and adoption and can be delivered in a 60 or 90-minute format.
• Champion the Cause
  The program is an initiative to develop leaders that address ACEs, overdose and suicide. Leaders are invited to attend orientation and training sessions for professional development and networking.  The program introduces the framework, Urgent. Related. Preventable. as a method to deepen understanding of the connection between ACEs, overdose and suicide. Leaders utilize this framework to communicate with stakeholders and advocate for policies and interventions that address all three challenges. Some participants also apply for monetary awards that can be used to support initiatives in their communities. This program is adaptable to many settings and organizations, and adoption social workers may develop unique projects to support adoptees through this opportunity. Interested participants should email championofchange@apha.org.
• EP 134: Strengthening Community: Social Workers at the YMCA
  The YMCA and NASW were cohort participants through Champions of Change, a program that addresses ACEs and other challenges in communities. In partnership with the YMCA, NASW released a podcast that explored how the YMCA understands the needs of the populations they serve and renders services to community members. Organizations like a local YMCA may serve as a great resource for social workers connecting adoptive families to community-based support. Listen to this podcast for more information.

Related Organizations and Resources

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Risks and Protective Factors
https://www.cdc.gov/aces/risk-factors/index.html

AdoptUSKids
https://adoptuskids.org/

Belonging for a Lifetime: Permanency and Lifelong Connections – LIVE WEBINAR
https://events.zoom.us/ev/ArUatgBKCxrnFm-u8oFJIlZmvNIU2mG-icTsqRkvEiNkhlPAlPHP~Ar_O97mFEZ3p8wXgI4S9c4ghf_GEaBiblXBlwWFFbJdaetSx6MwYjIjAd6grHpZ5ZVp43FVKULWIL3JcsGxjYZCtyw

Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.)
https://adoptionsupport.org/

Child Welfare Information Gateway
About National Adoption Month | Child Welfare Information Gateway

Dave Thomas Foundation
https://www.davethomasfoundation.org/

National Adoption Association
https://www.adoptnaa.org/

NASW Social Work Talks Podcast: EP 125 Forever Family for Children in Foster Care
https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Social-Work-Talks-Podcast/EP125-Forever-Family-for-Children-in-Foster-Care

National Council For Adoption
https://adoptioncouncil.org/

References

National Association of Social Workers. (n.d.). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): Working with children, youth, and families. https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Tips-and-Tools-for-Social-Workers/Adverse-Childhood-Experiences-ACEs-Working-with-Children-Youth-and

Brodzinsky, D., Gunnar, M., & Palacios, J. (2022). Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption. Child abuse & neglect, 130(Pt 2), 105309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309

Paine, A.L., Fahey, K., Anthony, R.E. et al. Early adversity predicts adoptees’ enduring emotional and behavioral problems in childhood. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30, 721–732 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01553-0

Anthony, R. E., Paine, A. L., & Shelton, K. H. (2019). Adverse Childhood Experiences of Children Adopted from Care: The Importance of Adoptive Parental Warmth for Future Child Adjustment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(12), 2212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122212

Teresa Galán-Luque, Lucía Quiñonero-Fernández, Mireia Orgilés, Pre-adoption and post-adoption factors associated with internalizing problems in adopted children and adolescents: A systematic review, Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 184, 2026, 108857, ISSN 0190-7409, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2026.108857

Buckley, L., Atkins, T., Perera, W., & Waller, M. (2024). Trajectories of Parental Warmth and the Role They Play in Explaining Adolescent Prosocial Behavior. Journal of youth and adolescence, 53(3), 526–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01887-3