Tulsa panel links high ACE scores, trauma and addiction; nonprofits cite housing and employment as keys to reentry

At a Tulsa Women’s Commission meeting, speakers described how complex trauma and high Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) scores are linked to addiction and criminal‑justice involvement and urged expanded trauma‑informed treatment, safe housing and second‑chance employment.

Deidra Kirtley, former executive director of Resonance Center for Women, said the nonprofit provided year‑and‑a‑half to two‑year intensive outpatient treatment and transitional employment so women could avoid incarceration or better reintegrate after release. “You can't treat the addiction if you don't treat the trauma that these women have gone through in their life,” Kirtley said.

The panel included Melissa Hoover, a formerly incarcerated person and current case manager with the SheBrews transition program, who described her own path through addiction, homelessness and incarceration and credited therapy and supported employment with her recovery. “Safe housing and safe employment are two biggest keys, to reentry, to recovery, to being able to find your place in the world,” Hoover said.

Why it matters: Presenters argued that treating…