I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7320 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2018 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

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 2018’’. 


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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 activities that promote 

12 a shared understanding among teachers, school 

13 leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized instruc14 tional support personnel, and other staff that 

15 traumatic life experiences in the lives of chil16 dren— 

17 ‘‘(i) are common, yet are often not 

18 disclosed or reported; 

19 ‘‘(ii) cause neurological, psychological, 

20 and social effects that affect learning, be21 havior, and relationships; 

22 ‘‘(iii) create risk of further trauma; 

23 ‘‘(iv) do not inherently undermine the 

24 capabilities of students to reach high ex25 pectations in academics and life; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) can and should be mitigated in 

2 schools by evidence-based schoolwide ap3 proaches; 

4 ‘‘(B) adoption of disciplinary procedures 

5 and practices that— 

6 ‘‘(i) accompany disciplinary actions 

7 with holistic assessments and interventions 

8 to address the underlying causes of student 

9 behavior, including trauma; 

10 ‘‘(ii) avoid harsh and punitive, exclu11 sionary disciplinary practices; 

12 ‘‘(iii) utilize evidence-based restorative 

13 practices that build a culture of trust; and 

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

15 of race, color, national origin, sex (includ16 ing sexual orientation or gender identity), 

17 disability, English proficiency status, mi18 grant status, or age consistent with the 

19 Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 

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

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

22 seq.), title IX of the Education Amend23 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), 

24 section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

25 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), the Americans with 


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

2 et seq.), and the Individuals with Disabil3 ities Education Act (42 U.S.C. 1400 et 

4 seq.); 

5 ‘‘(C) activities that promote a culture of 

6 acceptance that connects a student to the 

7 school community and provides multiple oppor8 tunities to practice newly developing skills; 

9 ‘‘(D) activities that promote teamwork, 

10 shared staff responsibility, and ongoing, effec11 tive communication among teachers, school 

12 leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized instruc13 tional support personnel, and other staff re14 garding the needs of each individual student en15 rolled in such school; and 

16 ‘‘(E) activities which provide teachers, 

17 school leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized in18 structional support personnel, and other staff 

19 with evidence-based professional development on 

20 skills including— 

21 ‘‘(i) identifying students who exhibit 

22 symptoms commonly associated with trau23 ma; 

24 ‘‘(ii) recognizing and preventing adult 

25 implicit bias; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) proactively anticipating and 

2 adapting to the changing needs of each 

3 student who has experienced trauma; 

4 ‘‘(iv) integrating evidence-based prac5 tices that build social-emotional skills into 

6 rigorous academic instruction; and 

7 ‘‘(v) using evidence-based practices to 

8 holistically address the needs of each stu9 dent who has experienced trauma in a cul10 turally sustaining manner, including by 

11 supporting, with respect to each such stu12 dent, the following: 

13 ‘‘(I) Success in academic and 

14 nonacademic areas. 

15 ‘‘(II) Physical, social, and emo16 tional health and well-being.’’. 

17 (b) STATE PLAN.—Section 1111(g)(1)(C) of such 

18 Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(g)(1)(C)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘reducing’’; 

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

21 ‘‘incidences’’; 

22 (3) in clause (ii)— 

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

24 overuse’’; and 

25 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’; 


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1 (4) in clause (iii)— 

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

3 use’’; and 

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

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

6 ‘‘(iv) increasing the prevalence of 

7 trauma-informed practices;’’. 

8 (c) PLAN PROVISIONS.—Section 1112(b) of the Ele9 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 6312(b)) is amended— 

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

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

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (11) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(12) how the local educational agency will sup16 port efforts to increase the prevalence of trauma-in17 formed practices;’’. 

18 (d) SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAM.—Section 

19 1114(b)(7)(A)(iii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

20 6314(b)(7)(A)(iii)) is amended— 

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

22 ‘‘and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(VI) the implementation of 

25 trauma-informed practices; and’’. 


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

2 6611) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (c)(4)(B)— 

4 (A) by redesignating clauses (xv) through 

5 (xxi) as clauses (xvi) through (xxii), respec6 tively; and 

7 (B) by inserting after clause (xiv) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(xv) Providing training for all teach10 ers, school leaders, paraprofessionals, and 

11 specialized instructional support personnel 

12 on trauma-informed practices.’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

14 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (K) 

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

16 respectively; and 

17 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (J) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(K) A description of how the State edu20 cational agency will use funds under this part 

21 to increase the prevalence of trauma-informed 

22 practices.’’. 

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

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


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

2 clauses (ii) through (v); and 

3 (2) by inserting before clause (ii), as redesig4 nated, the following: 

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

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

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

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

9 ‘‘or’’; 

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

11 end; and 

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

13 ‘‘(III) increase the prevalence of 

14 trauma-informed practices;’’. 

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

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

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

18 include professional development on trauma-informed 

19 practices;’’. 

20 (i) DESCRIPTION OF PLAN.—Section 

21 4303(f)(1)(A)(viii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 7221b(f)(1)(A)(viii)) is amended— 

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

24 ‘‘and’’; 


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

2 end; and 

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

4 ‘‘(III) adopting trauma-informed 

5 practices.’’. 

6 (j) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

7 4305(b)(3)(B)(ii) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

8 7221d(b)(3)(B)(ii)) is amended— 

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

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

11 end; and 

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

13 ‘‘(IV) the discipline practices that 

14 will be used, including a description of 

15 whether such practices are consistent 

16 with trauma-informed practices;’’. 

Æ 


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