The ACE Score Is Being Misused, Even by Well Meaning Clinicians

Everyone talks about ACE screening.

Few talk about what the research actually supports.

In this training clip, we break down the question we get asked most often: should clinicians and organizations use the ACE screening tool with clients, students, or staff?

We look at what the original ACE Study was designed to do (a retrospective public health survey, not a clinical screening instrument), why co-author Dr. Rob Anda has cautioned against using it as an individual risk assessment tool, and how Dr. Nadine Burke Harris's work as California Surgeon General pushed ACEs screening into clinical settings through ACEs Aware.

We walk through the real limitations of an ACE score (it can't capture intensity, frequency, timing, or current functioning), what a safer screening approach looks like if an organization decides to use one, and why workplace ACE screening for staff carries a different and often overlooked set of ethical risks.

If you're a clinician, supervisor, educator, or program leader deciding whether ACE screening belongs in your practice or organization, this is the research grounding you need before you decide.

This clip is from our full training, Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences. Register for the full training at this link - https://www.mezzosolutions.com/events

Topics covered: ACE score limitations, ACEs Aware, trauma-informed screening, Rob Anda, Nadine Burke Harris, workplace trauma screening, Positive Childhood Experiences, trauma-informed organizational practice.