IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1484 

Recognizing the importance of evidence-based parenting and caregiving 

education in elementary and secondary schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 

Mrs. RAMIREZ (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. CARSON, Ms. 

GARCIA of Texas, and Mr. DOGGETT) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the importance of evidence-based parenting and 

caregiving education in elementary and secondary schools. 

Whereas evidence-based parenting and caregiving education 

in schools provides students critical information and tools 

that can empower them to be agents of change that can 

result in positive social, emotional, and economic outcomes; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges that parenting takes many different forms 

and that there are positive parenting practices that work 

well across diverse families and in diverse settings, including responding to children in a predictable way, 

showing warmth and sensitivity, having routines and 


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household rules, supporting health and safety, and using 

appropriate discipline without harshness; 

Whereas studies have shown that parenting and caregiving 

programs created to promote healthy cognitive, emotional, and social development can improve the prospects 

and quality of life for children; 

Whereas parenting and caregiving programs can provide critical information on child development and safety, promote positive parenting and caregiving behaviors, teach 

effective discipline strategies, and reduce levels of child 

abuse and neglect; 

Whereas adaptive behaviors are defined by the American Psychological Association as the level of everyday performance of tasks that is required for a person to fulfill typical roles in society, including maintaining independence 

and meeting cultural expectations regarding personal and 

social responsibility; 

Whereas positive parenting and caregiving practices are directly linked to adaptive behaviors in children and can 

help avert adverse outcomes, especially among at-risk 

children; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

states that many factors can increase or decrease the 

likelihood of someone experiencing and perpetrating violence and defines risk factors as characteristics that may 

increase the likelihood of experiencing or perpetrating 

child abuse and neglect; 

Whereas positive parenting and caregiving education can inform and make families aware of strategies and tools to 

prevent child mistreatment, which can interrupt healthy 


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development in children and lead to maladaptive functioning; 

Whereas research has shown that the damaging consequences 

of abuse and neglect can reshape a child’s brain, resulting in consequences that last throughout their life, influence the child’s amygdala, which regulates emotions, particularly fear and anxiety, and change the functioning of 

the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for thinking, 

planning, reasoning, and decision making, which can all 

lead to behavioral and academic problems; 

Whereas, according to the World Health Organization, child 

maltreatment can cause severe short- and long-term 

physical, sexual, and mental health consequences, including head injuries and severe disability, post-traumatic 

stress, anxiety, depression, and sexually transmitted infections, which can contribute to social problems including substance abuse, perpetrating or being a victim of violence, smoking, obesity, and unintended pregnancy; 

Whereas research has shown that the adverse effects of abuse 

and neglect on a child’s brain and behavioral development 

are not static and can be reversed with intervention and 

positive changes in a child’s environment that take place 

when the abuse ends and after the child is given the support they require; 

Whereas, according to a recent study through the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, the total national economic burden associated with child abuse and neglect 

from Federal fiscal year 2018 is approximately 

$563,000,000,000; 


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Whereas there are several Federal agencies supporting and 

providing parenting and caregiving education programs, 

including— 

(1) the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood programs operated by the Department of Health 

and Human Services Office of Family Assistance, which 

provide funding for grants, contracts, research and evaluation, and other activities to strengthen families, promote responsible parenting, and improve family economic 

stability; 

(2) the Head Start and Early Head Start programs 

operated by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, which 

offer comprehensive early childhood education and development services to low-income children and their families, 

among other things, and, in accordance with the statutes 

authorizing such programs, ‘‘provide services to parents 

to support their role as parents (including parenting 

skills training and training in basic child development)’’; 

(3) the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home 

Visiting program operated jointly by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of 

Health and Human Services, which— 

(A) seeks to improve health, well-being, and 

educational outcomes for vulnerable families with 

young children; and 

(B) provides services to the families who voluntarily participate, including periodic visits from 

nurses, social workers, or other professionals, home 

visits to provide tailored services such as parenting 

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•HRES 1484 IH 

ment screenings, and referrals to community support; 

(4) Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) operated by the Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Services Administration, which aims to 

promote the healthy social and emotional development of 

school-aged youth and prevent youth violence in school 

settings; and 

(5) the Child and Family Development Program operated by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 

which strengthens and enhances the well-being of children, adults, and families by supporting research, education, and extension in the areas of prenatal care, early 

childhood health, nutrition, and care, maternal health, 

parenting education, adult and family relationships, adult 

development and aging, kinship care, intergenerational 

programming, rural health disparities, rural health and 

safety, and professional development in early childhood 

and adult care; 

Whereas Illinois, West Virginia, and California have supported parenting and caregiving education in their 

schools; and 

Whereas Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman 

has found that investing in early childhood education and 

developmental opportunities for at-risk children is an effective strategy to reduce social costs to taxpayers: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the importance of evidence-based 

3 parenting and caregiving education; and 


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1 (2) encourages schools to promote evidence2 based parenting and caregiving education. 

Æ 


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