II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4397 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

criteria for use of Federal funds to support trauma-informed practices 

in schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2024 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide criteria for use of Federal funds 

to support trauma-informed practices in schools, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trauma-Informed 

5 Schools Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES. 

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 8101 of the Elementary 

3 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) 

4 is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (51) and (52) 

6 as paragraphs (52) and (53), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (50) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(51) TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES.—The 

10 term ‘trauma-informed practices’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) evidence-based professional develop12 ment that promotes a shared understanding 

13 among teachers, teachers assistants, school 

14 leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized instruc15 tional support personnel, and other staff that— 

16 ‘‘(i) adverse and potentially traumatic 

17 experiences are common among students; 

18 ‘‘(ii) trauma can impact student 

19 learning, behavior, and relationships in 

20 school; 

21 ‘‘(iii) adverse and potentially trau22 matic experiences do not inherently under23 mine the capabilities of students to reach 

24 high expectations in academics and life; 

25 ‘‘(iv) school-wide learning environ26 ments where all students and adults feel 


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1 safe, welcomed, and supported can enable 

2 students to succeed despite adverse and 

3 potentially traumatic experiences; and 

4 ‘‘(v) services, supports, and programs 

5 provided to meet individual student needs 

6 should be trauma informed, where appro7 priate, and increase student connection to 

8 the school-wide learning environment; 

9 ‘‘(B) adoption of disciplinary procedures 

10 and practices that— 

11 ‘‘(i) accompany disciplinary actions 

12 with holistic assessments and positive be13 havioral interventions and supports to ad14 dress the underlying causes of student be15 havior, including trauma; 

16 ‘‘(ii) avoid harsh, punitive, or exclu17 sionary disciplinary practices; 

18 ‘‘(iii) utilize evidence-based restorative 

19 practices that build a culture of trust; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) do not discriminate on the basis 

21 of race, color, national origin, sex (includ22 ing sexual orientation or gender identity), 

23 disability, English proficiency status, mi24 grant status, or age consistent with the 

25 Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), title VI of the Civil 

2 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et 

3 seq.), title IX of the Education Amend4 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), 

5 section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

6 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), the Americans with 

7 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

8 et seq.), and the Individuals with Disabil9 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 

10 seq.); and 

11 ‘‘(C) activities that engage teachers, teach12 ers assistants, school leaders, paraprofessionals, 

13 specialized instructional support personnel, 

14 other staff, and families in a process of school15 based planning to— 

16 ‘‘(i) promote a school-wide culture of 

17 acceptance; 

18 ‘‘(ii) help all students feel safe and 

19 connected to the school community; 

20 ‘‘(iii) support all students to form 

21 positive relationships with adults and 

22 peers, understand and manage emotions, 

23 achieve success academically and in extra24 curricular areas, and experience physical 

25 and psychological health and well-being; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) promote teamwork and effective 

2 communication among all staff and shared 

3 responsibility for every student; 

4 ‘‘(v) integrate evidence-based practices 

5 that build social-emotional skills into rig6 orous academic instruction; and 

7 ‘‘(vi) recognize and prevent adult im8 plicit bias.’’. 

9 (b) STATE PLAN.—Section 1111(g)(1)(C) of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 6311(g)(1)(C)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘reducing’’; 

13 (2) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘reducing’’ before 

14 ‘‘incidences’’; 

15 (3) in clause (ii)— 

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘reducing’’ before ‘‘the 

17 overuse’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’; 

19 (4) in clause (iii)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘reducing’’ before ‘‘the 

21 use’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘safety;’’; and 

23 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(iv) increasing the prevalence of 

25 trauma-informed practices;’’. 


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1 (c) PLAN PROVISIONS.—Section 1112(b) of such Act 

2 (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)) is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (12) and (13) 

4 as paragraphs (13) and (14), respectively; and 

5 (2) by inserting after paragraph (11) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(12) how the local educational agency will sup8 port efforts to increase the prevalence of trauma-in9 formed practices;’’. 

10 (d) SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAM.—Section 

11 1114(b)(7)(A)(iii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

12 6314(b)(7)(A)(iii)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subclause (IV), by striking at the end 

14 ‘‘and’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(VI) the implementation of 

17 trauma-informed practices; and’’. 

18 (e) TRAINING.—Section 2101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

19 6611) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (c)(4)(B)— 

21 (A) by redesignating clauses (xv) through 

22 (xxi) as clauses (xvi) through (xxii), respec23 tively; and 

24 (B) by inserting after clause (xiv) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(xv) Providing training for all teach2 ers, school leaders, paraprofessionals, and 

3 specialized instructional support personnel 

4 on trauma-informed practices.’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

6 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (K) 

7 through (M) as subparagraphs (L) through (N) 

8 respectively; and 

9 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (J) 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(K) A description of how the State edu12 cational agency will use funds under this part 

13 to increase the prevalence of trauma-informed 

14 practices.’’. 

15 (f) LOCAL USE OF FUNDS.—Section 2103(b)(3)(I) of 

16 such Act (20 U.S.C. 6613(b)(3)(I)) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iv) as 

18 clauses (ii) through (v), respectively; and 

19 (2) by inserting before clause (ii), as redesig20 nated, the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) trauma-informed practices;’’. 

22 (g) STATE ACTIVITIES.—Section 4104(b)(3)(B)(ii) of 

23 such Act (20 U.S.C. 7114(b)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subclause (I), by striking at the end 

25 ‘‘or’’; 


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1 (2) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the 

2 end; and 

3 (3) by inserting at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(III) increase the prevalence of 

5 trauma-informed practices;’’. 

6 (h) STATE APPLICATION.—Section 4203(a)(6) of 

7 such Act (20 U.S.C. 7173(a)(6)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘development;’’ and inserting ‘‘development, which may 

9 include professional development on trauma-informed 

10 practices;’’. 

11 (i) DESCRIPTION OF PLAN.—Section 

12 4303(f)(1)(A)(viii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

13 7221b(f)(1)(A)(viii)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subclause (I), by striking at the end 

15 ‘‘and’’; 

16 (2) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 

17 end; and 

18 (3) by inserting at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(III) adopting trauma-informed 

20 practices;’’. 

21 (j) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

22 4305(b)(3)(B)(ii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

23 7221d(b)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘and’’; 


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1 (2) in subclause (III), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; and 

3 (3) by inserting at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(IV) the discipline practices that 

5 will be used, including a description of 

6 whether such practices are consistent 

7 with trauma-informed practices;’’. 

Æ 


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