III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 346 

Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Ms. BALDWIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of traumainformed care. 

Whereas traumatic experiences affect millions of individuals 

in the United States and can affect the mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, economic, and social well-being 

of an individual; 

Whereas adverse childhood experiences (in this preamble referred to as ‘‘ACEs’’) can be traumatizing and, if not 

recognized, can affect health across the lifespan of an individual and, in some cases, result in a shortened lifespan; 

Whereas ACEs are recognized as a proxy for toxic stress, 

which can affect brain development and can cause a lifetime of physical, mental, and social challenges; 


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•SRES 346 IS 

Whereas ACEs and trauma are determinants of public health 

problems in the United States such as obesity, addiction, 

and serious mental illness; 

Whereas trauma-informed care is an approach that can bring 

greater understanding and more effective ways to support 

and serve children, adults, families, and communities affected by trauma; 

Whereas trauma-informed care is not a therapy or an intervention, but a principle-based, culture-change process 

aimed at recognizing strengths and resiliency as well as 

helping people who have experienced trauma to overcome 

those issues in order to lead healthy and positive lives; 

Whereas adopting trauma-informed approaches in workplaces, communities, and government programs can aid 

in preventing mental, emotional, physical, and social 

issues for people impacted by toxic stress or trauma; 

Whereas trauma-informed care has been promoted and established in communities across the United States, including 

many different uses of trauma-informed care being utilized by various types of entities, such as— 

(1) the State of Wisconsin, which established Fostering Futures, a statewide initiative— 

(A) under which the State partnered with Indian tribes, State agencies, county governments, and 

nonprofit organizations to make Wisconsin the first 

trauma-informed State; and 

(B) the goal of which is to reduce toxic stress 

and improve life-long health and well-being for all 

Wisconsinites; 

(2) the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin, which improved educational and public health outcomes by increasing understanding of historical trauma and childVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 02, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR346.IS SR346

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hood adversity and by developing culturally relevant, 

trauma-informed practices; 

(3) schools of medicine that provide critical traumainformed care in Chicago, Illinois, including— 

(A) the University of Illinois at Chicago Comprehensive Assessment and Response Training System, which improves the quality of psychiatric services provided to youth in foster care; and 

(B) the University of Chicago Recovery and 

Empowerment After Community Trauma Program, 

which helps residents who are coping with community violence; 

(4) service providers, academics, and local artists in 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that use art to engage communities to educate and involve citizens in trauma-informed care activities; 

(5) the Department of Public Health of San Francisco, California, which aligned its workforce to create a 

trauma-informed system; 

(6) schools in Kansas City, Missouri, that— 

(A) worked to become trauma-informed by encouraging teachers and children to create self-care 

plans to manage stress; and 

(B) have implemented broad community-wide, 

trauma-informed culture changes; 

(7) the city of Tarpon Springs, Florida, which crafted a community effort to gather city officials, professionals, and residents to coordinate multiple trauma-informed activities, including a community education day; 

(8) community members in Worcester, Massachusetts, who worked with the Massachusetts Department of 

Mental Health to create a venue with peer-to-peer supVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 02, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR346.IS SR346

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port to better engage individuals dealing with trauma and 

extreme emotional distress; 

(9) the city of Walla Walla, Washington, which, together with community members, launched the Children’s 

Resilience Initiative to mobilize neighborhoods and Washington State agencies to tackle ACEs; 

(10) the State of Oregon, which passed the first 

State law in the United States to promote— 

(A) trauma-informed approaches in order to decrease rates of school absenteeism and increase understanding of ACEs and trauma; and 

(B) best practices to leverage community resources to support youth; 

(11) the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which 

passed a law to promote whole-school efforts to implement trauma-informed care approaches to support the social, emotional, and academic well-being of all students, 

including both preventive and intensive services and support depending on the needs of students; and 

(12) the State of Washington, which implemented 

the ACEs Public-Private Initiative, a collaboration among 

private, public, and community organizations to research 

and inform policies to prevent childhood trauma and reduce the negative emotional, social, and health effects of 

childhood trauma; 

Whereas the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration provides substantial resources to better 

engage individuals and communities across the United 

States to implement trauma-informed care; 

Whereas numerous Federal agencies have integrated traumainformed approaches into programs and grants that those 


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agencies administer, and those agencies could benefit 

from closer collaboration; and 

Whereas national recognition through a trauma-focused 

awareness month would help to deepen the understanding 

of the nature and impact of trauma, the importance of 

prevention, the impact that ACEs can have on brain development, and the benefits of trauma-informed care: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the importance, effectiveness, 

3 and need for trauma-informed care among existing 

4 programs and agencies at the Federal level; 

5 (2) encourages the use and practice of trauma6 informed care within the Federal Government, in7 cluding within the executive branch agencies and 

8 Congress; and 

9 (3) supports the designation of May 2018 as 

10 ‘‘National Trauma Awareness Month’’ and May 22, 

11 2018, as ‘‘National Trauma-Informed Awareness 

12 Day’’ in order to highlight community resilience 

13 through trauma-informed change. 

Æ 


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