Building Resilience

Being “school ready” is about more than cognitive skills. Social-emotional development is also critical to a child’s success. 

Trauma, chronic stress, and other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact a child’s ability to succeed in school, work, and life. Research shows that ACEs have an intergenerational impact: parents who have experienced childhood trauma are more likely to engage in behaviors that lead to ACEs for their own children. 

An estimated 27% of Biddeford children under age 5 experience two or more adverse childhood experiences.

Approximately 1 in 4 children in Maine has been affected by two or more ACEs, a rate that far exceeds all other New England states and the U.S. overall. Based on this figure, we estimate that about 950 Biddeford children and adolescents (ages 0-17) have two or more ACEs. Roughly 260 – 27 percent – are under age five. At the same time, teachers and support staff from other early childhood education services report behavior challenges at increasing rates and levels of severity among the children they serve. 

Biddeford Ready! is currently developing a community-wide approach to help mitigate the impact of ACEs by promoting resilience in children and families.