Seeing the Full Picture: Introducing Illinois’ Adversity Index

This May, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is unveiling a groundbreaking new tool that promises to transform how we understand trauma and need in our state: the Children’s Adversity Index. 

In pediatrics, developmental psychology, and education policy and practice, we’ve long acknowledged the impact of childhood trauma on student learning, health outcomes, and socioeconomic reality. Sadly, we have not had community-level data to help identify need and allow practitioners and policy-makers to respond to critical need. The Adversity Index changes that. It offers a comprehensive, data-informed view of community-level adversity across Illinois, helping state leaders see beyond surface-level indicators and dig into the systems and structures that shape student well-being. 

Understanding the Impact of Childhood Trauma 

We know that traumatic childhood experiences, oftentimes called adverse childhood experiences, ACEs in research, can have devastating long-term effects. Children who experience abuse, neglect, violence, or family instability are more likely to face academic struggles, emotional distress, and health issues that persist well into adulthood. These effects aren’t confined to the classroom—they follow young people into every aspect of their lives. 

But ACEs don’t happen in a vacuum. They’re deeply connected to community—to the housing, healthcare, economic opportunities, and systems that define a child’s environment. This is where the concept of adverse community environments comes into play. When communities experience poverty, disinvestment, limited access to services, and generational trauma, they become fertile ground for ACEs. 

That’s why the Adversity Index doesn’t focus on individual children. Instead, it highlights the conditions that make trauma more likely and recovery more difficult. It gives us a map—not just of where children are hurting, but why. 

What the Index Shows 

The Children’s Adversity Index is rooted in research and built using data from across a range of domains, including healthcare access, economic conditions, educational opportunity, and family and community stability. Together, these factors paint a picture of community well-being—or in some cases, systemic neglect. 

When viewed on the Index’s interactive maps, patterns begin to emerge. You can see how adversity clusters in regions with histories of disinvestment: where healthcare is harder to reach, schools are underfunded, and families face daily barriers to stability. These maps don’t just confirm what many communities already know—they validate it with data, giving voice and visibility to lived experiences that have too often been ignored. The Index ensures those communities are seen. 

From Insight to Action 

This tool is more than a dashboard or a data report—it’s a platform for care and advocacy. It provides a common language for discussing trauma, not in abstract terms, but grounded in data that reflects the realities of every day. It allows district leaders, public health officials, and community organizers to make stronger, more targeted arguments for funding, support, and policy change.  

With the Adversity Index, school leaders can build a stronger case for investing in student mental health services. Public health departments can align their outreach and prevention strategies to need. And state policymakers can use this data to prioritize distribution of resources—so the communities facing the steepest uphill climbs get the support they need. 

What Comes Next 

The creation of the Adversity Index is just the beginning, and Advance Illinois is excited about the use cases this tool offers. Whether it is driving state investments, directing healthcare services, deepening awareness of communities’ stories, the Adversity Index opens the door to new possibilities to support Illinois children and students. It invites us to consider the value of trauma-informed systems—systems that not only respond to individual need, but address root causes. 

If we want a more equitable Illinois, we must be honest about need. The Adversity Index helps us do just that. It’s a tool built to seek understanding, inform the state on local realities, and facilitate healing. As this resource becomes available, we encourage educators, advocates, and community members to explore it. As you tell your story to your state representative and state agencies, use it to tell your story to state representatives and state agencies. We encourage state leaders to use it to guide investments and programming. The Adversity Index allows us to better understand the communities that schools and districts serve, and resource them effectively to create safe, healthy learning environments. 

We now have an important insight about our state and districts. It is up to us now to use it. 

Eyob Villa-Moges is a Senior Policy Associate for Advance Illinois.