IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 443 
Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2017 
Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma- 
informed care. 
Whereas traumatic experiences affect millions of people in the 
United States and can affect a person’s mental, emo-
tional, physical, spiritual, economic, and social well-being; 
Whereas Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can be trau-
matizing and, if not recognized, can affect health across 
the life span and, in some cases, result in a shortened life 
span; 
Whereas ACEs are recognized as a proxy for toxic stress, 
which can affect brain development and can cause a life-
time of physical, mental, and social challenges; 
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•HRES 443 IH 
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 af-
fected by trauma; 
Whereas trauma-informed care is not a therapy or an inter-
vention, 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 work-
places, communities, and government programs can aid 
in preventing mental, emotional, physical, and/or social 
issues for people impacted by toxic stress and/or trauma; 
Whereas trauma-informed care has been promoted and estab-
lished in communities across the United States, including 
the following different uses of trauma-informed care 
being utilized by various types of entities: 
(1) The State of Wisconsin established Fostering 
Futures, a Statewide initiative partnering the State with 
Tribes, State agencies, county governments, and non-
profit organizations to make Wisconsin the first trauma- 
informed State. The goal of Fostering Futures is to re-
duce toxic stress and improve life-long health and well- 
being for all Wisconsinites. 
(2) The Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin improved 
educational and public health outcomes by increasing un-
derstanding of historical trauma and childhood adversity 
and by developing culturally relevant, trauma-informed 
practices. 
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•HRES 443 IH 
(3) Chicago, Illinois: schools of medicine provide 
critical trauma-informed care, including the University of 
Illinois at Chicago Comprehensive Assessment and Re-
sponse Training System, which improves the quality of 
psychiatric services provided to youth in foster care, and 
the University of Chicago Recovery & Empowerment 
After Community Trauma Initiative, which helps resi-
dents who are coping with community violence. 
(4) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: service providers, 
academics, and local artists use art to engage their com-
munity to educate and involve citizens in trauma-in-
formed care activities. 
(5) San Francisco, California: the city’s public 
health department aligned its workforce to create a trau-
ma-informed system. 
(6) Kansas City, Missouri: schools worked to become 
trauma-informed by encouraging teachers and children to 
create their own self-care plans to manage stress. They 
have implemented broad community-wide, trauma-in-
formed culture change. 
(7) Tarpon Springs, Florida: the city crafted a com-
munity effort to gather city officials, professionals, and 
residents to coordinate multiple trauma-informed activi-
ties, including a community education day. 
(8) Worchester, Massachusetts: community members 
worked with the Massachusetts State Department of 
Mental Health to create a venue with peer-to-peer sup-
port to better engage individuals dealing with trauma or 
extreme emotional distress. 
(9) Walla Walla, Washington: the city and commu-
nity members launched the Children’s Resilience Initia-
tive to mobilize neighborhoods and Washington State 
agencies to tackle ACEs. 
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•HRES 443 IH 
(10) The State of Oregon passed the first law to 
promote trauma-informed approaches to decrease rates of 
school absenteeism and understanding and promoting 
best practices to leverage community resources to support 
youth. 
(11) The State of Massachusetts passed a law to 
promote whole-school efforts to implement trauma-in-
formed care approaches to support the social, emotional, 
and academic well-being of all students, including both 
preventive and intensive services and supports depending 
on students’ needs. 
(12) The State of Washington implemented the 
ACEs Public-Private Initiative, a collaboration among 
private, public, and community organizations to research 
and inform policies to prevent childhood trauma and re-
duce its negative emotional, social, and health effects; 
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 trauma- 
informed approaches into their programs and grants and 
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 de-
velopment, and the benefits of trauma-informed care: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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•HRES 443 IH 
(1) recognizes the importance, effectiveness, 
and need for trauma-informed care among existing 
programs and agencies at the Federal level; 
(2) encourages the use and practice of trauma- 
informed care within the Federal Government, its 
agencies, and the United States Congress; and 
(3) supports the designation of ‘‘National Trau-
ma Awareness Month’’ and the designation of a 
‘‘National Trauma-Informed Awareness Day’’ dur-
ing such month to highlight community resilience 
through trauma-informed change. 
Æ 
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