II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1494 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and update the 

National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative for grants to address the 

problems of individuals who experience trauma and violence related 

stress. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2015 

Mrs. MURRAY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and 

update the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative 

for grants to address the problems of individuals who 

experience trauma and violence related stress. 

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 ‘‘Children’s Recovery 

5 from Trauma Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS OF INDIVID2 UALS WHO EXPERIENCE TRAUMA AND VIO3 LENCE RELATED STRESS. 

4 Section 582 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 290hh–1) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 582. GRANTS TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS OF INDI7 VIDUALS WHO EXPERIENCE TRAUMA AND VI8 OLENCE RELATED STRESS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

10 grants, contracts or cooperative agreements to public and 

11 nonprofit private entities, as well as to Indian tribes and 

12 tribal organizations, for the purpose of developing and 

13 maintaining programs that provide for— 

14 ‘‘(1) the continued operation of the National 

15 Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (referred to in this 

16 section as the ‘NCTSI’) and focus on the mental, be17 havioral, and biological aspects of psychological trau18 ma response; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the development of knowledge with regard 

20 to evidence-based practices for identifying and treat21 ing mental, behavioral, and biological disorders of 

22 children and youth resulting from witnessing or ex23 periencing a traumatic event. 

24 ‘‘(b) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants, contracts or 

25 cooperative agreements under subsection (a)(2) (related to 

26 the development of knowledge on evidence-based practices 


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1 for treating mental, behavioral, and biological disorders 

2 associated with psychological trauma), the Secretary shall 

3 give priority to universities, hospitals, mental health agen4 cies, and other community-based child-serving programs 

5 that have established clinical and research experience in 

6 the field of trauma-related mental disorders. 

7 ‘‘(c) COORDINATING CENTER.—In carrying out sub8 section (a), the Secretary shall award one cooperative 

9 agreement to a comprehensive national coordinating cen10 ter to oversee NCTSI activities (in this section referred 

11 to as the ‘NCTSI coordinating center’). 

12 ‘‘(d) CHILD OUTCOME DATA.—The NCTSI coordi13 nating center shall collect, analyze, and report NCTSI14 wide child outcome and process data for the purpose of 

15 establishing the effectiveness, implementation, and clinical 

16 utility of early identification and delivery of evidence-based 

17 treatment and services delivered to children and families 

18 served by the NCTSI grantees. 

19 ‘‘(e) TRAINING.—The NCTSI coordinating center 

20 shall oversee the continuum of interprofessional training 

21 initiatives in evidence-based and trauma-informed treat22 ments, interventions, and practices offered to NCTSI 

23 grantees and providers in all child-serving systems. 

24 ‘‘(f) PREVENTION.—The NCTSI coordinating center 

25 shall include a focus on the development of prevention 


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1 services and resources as they relate to the prevention of 

2 exposure to traumatic events and to early intervention 

3 programs focused on the prevention of the long term con4 sequences of child trauma. 

5 ‘‘(g) RESEARCH.—The NCTSI coordinating center 

6 shall establish an ongoing collaboration with Federal re7 search institutions, including at the National Institutes of 

8 Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Preven9 tion, for the purpose of sharing NCTSI expertise and eval10 uation data, conducting joint evaluation projects, and in11 forming national research priorities related to child trau12 ma. 

13 ‘‘(h) DISSEMINATION.—The NCTSI coordinating 

14 center shall collaborate with the Secretary in the dissemi15 nation of evidence-based and trauma-informed interven16 tions, treatments, products, and other resources to all 

17 child-serving systems, collaborating Federal agencies, and 

18 policymakers. 

19 ‘‘(i) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall establish con20 sensus-driven, in-person or teleconference review of 

21 NCTSI applications by child trauma experts and review 

22 criteria related to expertise and experience related to child 

23 trauma and evidence-based practices. 

24 ‘‘(j) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary 

25 shall ensure that grants, contracts or cooperative agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 04, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1494.IS S1494

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1 ments under subsection (a) are distributed equitably 

2 among the regions of the United States and among urban 

3 and rural areas. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, 

4 expertise and experience in the field of trauma-related dis5 orders shall be prioritized in the awarding of such grants 

6 as required under subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(k) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, as part of the 

8 application process, shall require that each applicant for 

9 a grant, contract or cooperative agreement under sub10 section (a) submit a plan for the rigorous evaluation of 

11 the activities funded under the grant, contract or agree12 ment, including both process and outcome evaluation, and 

13 the submission of an evaluation at the end of the project 

14 period. 

15 ‘‘(l) DURATION OF AWARDS.—With respect to a 

16 grant, contract or cooperative agreement under subsection 

17 (a), the period during which payments under such an 

18 award will be made to the recipient shall be 6 years. Such 

19 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements may be re20 newed. Expertise and experience in the field of trauma21 related disorders shall be a priority for new and continuing 

22 awards. 


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1 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.’’. 

Æ 


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