All Children Excel (ACE)

The All Children Excel (ACE) Program reduces risk factors and builds resiliency in families and children at risk for child maltreatment and delinquency. The program aims to interrupt cycles of neglect, abuse, domestic violence, crime, substance abuse, and mental illness. ACE combines the efforts of parents, child welfare, mental health, education, juvenile justice, law enforcement, and community resources to encourage healthy child development. The multi-disciplinary teams support long-term, multi-faceted in-home and community casework. The program works with children under age 10 at risk for negative outcomes including violence, substance abuse, school failure, teen pregnancy, and welfare dependency.

The goal of this program is to prevent delinquency, substance abuse, and school dropout in high risk children.

A comprehensive evaluation conducted in 2006 showed that engaging and stabilizing high risk children takes three years before health development gains have a meaningful impact. By age 13, 30.5% of participants in the ACE program have re-offended, compared with nearly 83% of children at a similar risk level who did not receive ACE services. An earlier 2004 evaluation showed that after a 4 ½ year period, 65% of ACE participants had no further police contact and 86% had not been charged with a subsequent offence. Among intervention participants, 60% displayed no disruptive behavior at school, attended classes regularly, and got passing grades.