March 23, 2026 | Juno Dolan
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have lasting effects on health and well-being. ACEs include traumatic events in a child’s life like abuse, neglect, substance abuse in the household, and witnessing violence in the home or community. Research suggests that individuals who experience at least four ACEs are at increased risk for poor health outcomes, making ACEs prevention a foundational strategy for reducing chronic disease, suicide, overdose, and mental health-related harms.
The strategies for preventing ACEs focus on changing policies, social norms, and behaviors to ensure safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments that help children reach their full potential. These relationships and environments are essential to creating positive childhood experiences, such as expanding access to community resources that promote stability and prosocial connections for youth, which provide a buffer against the negative effects of ACEs.
Everyone has a role to play in promoting positive childhood experiences and preventing the harmful effects of ACEs. Upstream policies that tackle these issues holistically can prevent ACEs, overdose, suicide, and mental health challenges. Recent state legislative policies supporting ACEs prevention strategies address these upstream issues by promoting stable housing, improving the environment in which children live, and implementing teacher training policies.
Housing Stability
Housing instability can cause physical and mental health challenges, stress, depression, suicide, and increase the risk of overdose. Policies that support stable, safe, and affordable housing reduce the chance of experiencing ACEs as well as other behavioral health-related harms. Improving housing conditions and increasing tenant protections can help stabilize families, protect children from trauma, and reduce stressors that contribute to mental health crises, overdose, suicide, and chronic disease.
In 2025, at least two states took steps to improve housing stability through legislation. Maine enacted LD 1287, establishing a housing stability support program aimed at preventing evictions by providing assistance to renters with household incomes below 30% of the area’s median income. The program provides direct financial assistance and facilitates supportive and wraparound services for program participants. Nevada enacted two bills that address financial transparency and overall safety for tenants:
AB 121 focuses on transparency in rental agreements, including fees, requiring the refund of certain application-related fees if the landlord rents the unit to another tenant or never processes the application. The bill also requires that landlords offer fee-free rent payment options and both limit and clearly disclose the fees applicable to any online payment systems.
To support health and safety, AB 211 offers an additional legal path for local governments and other parties to compel repairs when property owners fail to address unsafe living conditions in multi-family rental properties.
Built Environment
Improving the built environment — the spaces in which we live, work, and play — increases access to parks and other green spaces, sidewalks, lighting, and community gathering places, which play a critical role in shaping health and safety. Well-designed environments can reduce stress, promote social connection, and increase physical activity. Improvements in the built environment are associated with reduced overdose risk, lower suicide rates, and improved mental health outcomes. “Third places,” such as libraries, parks, and recreation centers, can also impact the rates of community violence.
At least two states enacted legislation in 2025 that support additional investment in healthier community infrastructure. Illinois enacted SB 2455, which amended its urban and community forestry assistance law to include the effects on improved human health when reviewing grant applications. The bill also specifies that the activities covered by the grant proposal may include activities that establish or enhance urban and community forests and tree canopy capacity in underserved communities or counties. Hawaii enacted HB 1007, expanding the role of its community development authority to improve certain housing development processes to better support infrastructure and improvements that encourage affordable, walkable communities.
Teacher Training
Schools play a key role in supporting students’ mental health and well-being. Students spend an average of 1,000 hours per year in school, giving teachers a unique opportunity to reach students and support prevention or mitigation of ACEs and mental health-related harms. Training teachers and school staff to recognize warning signs, respond effectively, and refer students to appropriate providers and resources improves the likelihood of early intervention and can significantly reduce harm for both the student and their families.
At least two states enacted legislation in 2025 to strengthen school-based mental health training and support for educators. Montana enacted SB 369, requiring that school district employees working with public school students have access to youth suicide awareness and prevention training, and directing the state health agency and the office of public instruction to ensure low and no-cost training options for schools. Virginia (HB 2637) directed its education and behavioral health agencies to develop and implement a plan that supports public school staff and student participation in the commonwealth’s mental health first aid program.
Legislative action is one strategy states can use to prevent ACEs and reduce risks of suicide, overdose, and mental health-related harms. By focusing on stability, safety, and support in the places where children live and learn, policymakers can reduce the risk across multiple outcomes and improve long-term population health.