I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1757 
To address the psychological, developmental, social, and emotional needs of 
children, youth, and families who have experienced trauma, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2017 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, and Mrs. 
BUSTOS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To address the psychological, developmental, social, and emo-
tional needs of children, youth, and families who have 
experienced trauma, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trauma-Informed 
Care for Children and Families Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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ease Control and Prevention revealed that nearly 1 
in 5 women reported having been the victim of a 
rape at some time during their lives. Seventy-eight 
percent experienced their first rape before the age of 
25. 
(6) A 2017 study found that abuse and mal-
treatment suffered as a child was associated with 
post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid-related 
misuse as an adult, and recommended that trauma 
history and post-traumatic stress disorder symptom 
severity be addressed as part of opioid addiction 
treatment. 
(7) Findings from the Adverse Childhood Expe-
riences Study conducted by the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention have shown that adverse 
childhood experiences predispose children towards 
negative trajectories from infancy through adoles-
cence. Followup representative studies have shown 
the long-range impact of early trauma exposure on 
adult health conditions, including heart disease, 
asthma, and mental health. 
(8) According to a subsequent study conducted 
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
adults who had been exposed to multiple adverse 
childhood experiences were significantly more likely 
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to be unemployed, to be living in poverty, and not 
to have graduated high school than adults who had 
zero adverse childhood experiences. 
(9) According to a 2008 finding by the Na-
tional Child Traumatic Stress Network, educators 
who work directly with traumatized children and 
adolescents are particularly vulnerable to secondary 
traumatic stress, experiencing burnout, fatigue, irri-
tability, and other symptoms, and can be supported 
through early recognition of that stress, self-care, 
and trauma-informed support systems. 
(10) Findings from a 2012 study conducted by 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in-
cluded an estimate that the total lifetime burden of 
child maltreatment cases that occur each year in the 
United States, including medical, welfare, and crimi-
nal justice costs, is $124,000,000,000. 
(11) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition 
Examination Survey, only half of children ages 8 
through 15 with a mental disorder had received 
treatment for their disorder within the past year. 
Children with anxiety disorders such as post-trau-
matic stress disorder were the least likely to be 
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treated, with only 32.2 percent having received 
treatment for a mental disorder in the past year. 
(12) According to a 2014 report of the Institute 
of Medicine and National Research Council of the 
National Academies entitled ‘‘New Directions in 
Child Abuse and Neglect Research’’, research has 
shown that child abuse and neglect experiences re-
sulted in higher risk for behavioral health problems 
(such as depression and substance use) throughout 
life, but that with informed prevention approaches, 
child abuse and neglect can be both preventable and 
manageable. 
(13) According to a 2017 finding by the Na-
tional Child Traumatic Stress Network, of the chil-
dren served by the Network with problems in the 
clinical range when entering care, 83 percent showed 
significant improvements in post-traumatic stress 
disorder, behavioral problems, or traumatic stress 
symptoms after receiving evidence-based treatments. 
(14) According to a 2008 Washington State re-
port on prevention programs that assessed both cost 
and effectiveness, evidence-based, two-generational 
child trauma treatments such as Parent-Child Inter-
action Therapy return $3.64 per dollar of cost. 
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TITLE I—DEVELOPMENT OF 
BEST PRACTICES 
SEC. 101. TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP BEST PRACTICES FOR 
TRAUMA-INFORMED 
IDENTIFICATION, 
RE-
FERRAL, AND SUPPORT. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE TO IDENTIFY, 
EVALUATE, RECOMMEND, MAINTAIN, AND UPDATE BEST 
PRACTICES.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 
task force, to be known as the Interagency Task 
Force on Trauma-Informed Care. 
(2) MAIN DUTIES.—The task force shall— 
(A) identify, evaluate, recommend, main-
tain, and update, as described in subsection (c) 
and in accordance with subsection (d), a set of 
best practices with respect to children and 
youth, and their families as appropriate, who 
have experienced or are at risk of experiencing 
trauma; and 
(B) carry out other duties as described in 
subsection (c). 
(b) TASK FORCE COMPOSITION.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.—The task force shall be 
composed of Federal employees, consisting of the 
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Sub-
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stance Use (referred to in this section as the ‘‘As-
sistant Secretary’’, except where another Assistant 
Secretary is specifically named) and 1 representative 
of each of— 
(A) the National Center for Injury Preven-
tion and Control of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention; 
(B) the Center for Mental Health Services 
of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration; 
(C) the Center for Substance Abuse Pre-
vention of that Administration; 
(D) the Center for Substance Abuse Treat-
ment of that Administration; 
(E) the Center for Behavioral Health Sta-
tistics and Quality of that Administration; 
(F) the Maternal and Child Health Bureau 
of the Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration; 
(G) the Center for Medicaid and CHIP 
Services; 
(H) the National Institute of Mental 
Health; 
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(I) the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National 
Institute of Child Health and Human Develop-
ment; 
(J) the National Institute on Drug Abuse; 
(K) the National Institute on Alcohol 
Abuse and Alcoholism; 
(L) the Administration on Children, Youth 
and Families of the Administration for Children 
and Families; 
(M) the Administration for Native Ameri-
cans of the Administration for Children and 
Families; 
(N) the Office of Child Care of the Admin-
istration for Children and Families; 
(O) the Office of Head Start of the Admin-
istration for Children and Families; 
(P) the Office of Refugee Resettlement of 
the Administration for Children and Families; 
(Q) the Indian Health Service of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services; 
(R) the Office of Minority Health of the 
Department of Health and Human Services; 
(S) the Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Planning and Evaluation; 
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(T) the Office of Juvenile Justice and De-
linquency Prevention of the Department of Jus-
tice; 
(U) the Office of Community Oriented Po-
licing Services of the Department of Justice; 
(V) the Office on Violence Against Women 
of the Department of Justice; 
(W) the National Center for Education 
Evaluation and Regional Assistance of the De-
partment of Education; 
(X) the Office of Safe and Healthy Stu-
dents of the Department of Education; 
(Y) the Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services of the Department of 
Education; 
(Z) the Office of Indian Education of the 
Department of Education; 
(AA) the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the 
Department of the Interior; 
(BB) the Bureau of Indian Education of 
the Department of the Interior; 
(CC) the Veterans Health Administration 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
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(DD) the Office of Special Needs Assist-
ance Programs of the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development; and 
(EE) such other Federal agencies as— 
(i) 
the 
Assistant 
Secretary 
rec-
ommends to the President; and 
(ii) the President determines to be ap-
propriate. 
(2) APPOINTMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 
task force, other than the Assistant Secretary, 
shall be appointed by the Secretary or other 
head of the entire Federal agency that contains 
the office or other unit of government that the 
member represents. 
(B) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The heads 
of Federal agencies with appointing authority 
under this paragraph shall appoint the cor-
responding members of the task force not later 
than 6 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The task force shall be 
chaired by the Assistant Secretary. 
(c) TASK FORCE DUTIES.—The task force shall— 
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(1) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and not less often than annually 
thereafter— 
(A) identify and evaluate a set of evidence- 
based, evidence-informed, and promising best 
practices, which may include practices already 
supported by offices of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, including the Na-
tional Mental Health and Substance Use Policy 
Laboratory, the Department of Justice, the De-
partment of Education, or another Federal 
agency, with respect to— 
(i) the early identification of children 
and youth, and their families as appro-
priate, who have experienced or are at risk 
of experiencing trauma; 
(ii) the expeditious referral of such 
children and youth, and their families as 
appropriate, that require specialized serv-
ices to the appropriate trauma-informed 
support (including treatment) services, in 
accordance with applicable privacy laws; 
and 
(iii) the implementation of trauma-in-
formed approaches and interventions in 
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child and youth-serving schools, organiza-
tions, homes, and other settings to foster 
safe, stable, and nurturing environments 
and relationships that prevent and mitigate 
the effects of trauma; 
(B) recommend such set of best practices, 
including disseminating the set, to the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, the De-
partment of Justice, the Department of Edu-
cation, other Federal agencies as appropriate, 
State, tribal, and local government agencies, in-
cluding State, local, and tribal educational 
agencies, and other entities (including recipients 
of relevant Federal grants, professional associa-
tions, health professional organizations, na-
tional and State accreditation bodies, and 
schools) that the Assistant Secretary deter-
mines to be appropriate, and to the general 
public; and 
(C) maintain and update, as appropriate, 
the set of best practices recommended under 
subparagraph (B); 
(2) not later than 2 years after the date of en-
actment of this Act— 
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(A) prepare an integrated task force strat-
egy report concerning how the task force and 
member agencies will collaborate, prioritize op-
tions for, and implement a coordinated ap-
proach to preventing trauma, and identifying 
and ensuring the appropriate interventions and 
supports for children, youth, and their families 
as appropriate, who have experienced or are at 
risk of experiencing trauma; 
(B) submit the report to the appropriate 
committees of Congress; and 
(C) make the report publicly available; and 
(3) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and as often as practicable but 
not less often than annually thereafter, coordinate, 
to the extent feasible, among the offices and other 
units of government represented on the task force, 
research, data collection, and evaluation regarding 
models described in subsection (d)(1)(C), identify 
gaps in or populations or settings not served by 
models described in that subsection, solicit feedback 
on the models, from the stakeholders described in 
subsection (d)(1)(B), coordinate, among the offices 
and other units of government represented on the 
task force, the awarding of grants related to pre-
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venting and mitigating trauma, and establish proce-
dures to enable the offices and units of government 
to share technical expertise related to preventing and 
mitigating trauma. 
(d) BEST PRACTICES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In identifying, evaluating, 
recommending, maintaining, and updating the set of 
best practices under subsection (c), the task force 
shall— 
(A) consider findings from evidence-based, 
evidence-informed, 
and 
promising 
practice- 
based models, including from institutions of 
higher education, community practice (including 
tribal experience), recognized professional asso-
ciations, and programs of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, the Department of 
Justice, the Department of Education, and 
other Federal agencies (including the National 
Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Lab-
oratory and offices in such agencies that main-
tain registries and clearinghouses of relevant 
models), that reflect the science of healthy 
child, youth, and family development, and have 
been developed, implemented, and evaluated to 
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demonstrate effectiveness or positive measur-
able outcomes; 
(B) engage with, and solicit and receive 
feedback from— 
(i) faculty at institutions of higher 
education, community practitioners associ-
ated with the community practice described 
in subparagraph (A), and recognized pro-
fessional associations that represent the 
experience and perspectives of individuals 
who provide services in covered settings, to 
obtain observations and practical rec-
ommendations on the best practices; and 
(ii) the public, by— 
(I) holding at least one public 
meeting to solicit recommendations 
and information relating to the best 
practices; and 
(II) providing notice of the meet-
ing in the Federal Register; 
(C) recommend models for settings in 
which individuals may come into contact with 
children and youth, and their families as appro-
priate, who have experienced or are at risk of 
experiencing trauma, including schools, hos-
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pitals, settings where health care providers, in-
cluding primary care and pediatric providers, 
provide services, preschool and early childhood 
education and care settings, home visiting set-
tings, after-school program facilities, child wel-
fare agency facilities, public health agency fa-
cilities, mental health treatment facilities, sub-
stance abuse treatment facilities, faith-based in-
stitutions, domestic violence centers, homeless 
services system facilities, refugee services sys-
tem facilities, juvenile justice system facilities, 
and law enforcement agency facilities; 
(D) recommend best practices that are evi-
dence-based, are evidence-informed, or are 
promising and practice-based, and that include 
guidelines for— 
(i)(I) training of front-line service 
providers, including teachers, providers 
from child- or youth-serving organizations, 
health care providers, individuals who are 
mandatory reporters of child abuse or ne-
glect, and first responders, in under-
standing and identifying early signs and 
risk factors of trauma in children and 
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youth, and their families as appropriate, 
including through screening processes; and 
(II) implementing appropriate re-
sponses; 
(ii) procedures or systems that— 
(I) are designed to quickly refer 
children and youth, and their families 
as appropriate, who have experienced 
or are at risk of experiencing trauma 
to, and ensure the children, youth, 
and appropriate family members re-
ceive, 
the 
appropriate 
trauma-in-
formed screening and support, includ-
ing treatment; or 
(II) use partnerships that— 
(aa) include local social serv-
ices 
organizations 
or 
clinical 
mental health or health care serv-
ice providers with expertise in 
furnishing support services (in-
cluding trauma-informed treat-
ment) to prevent or mitigate the 
effects of trauma; 
(bb) may be partnerships 
that co-locate or integrate serv-
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ices, such as by providing serv-
ices at school-based health cen-
ters; and 
(cc) are designed to make 
such quick referrals, and ensure 
the receipt of screening, support, 
and treatment, described in sub-
clause (I); 
(iii) educating children and youth 
to— 
(I) understand trauma; 
(II) identify the signs, effects, or 
symptoms of trauma; and 
(III) build the resilience and cop-
ing skills to mitigate the effects of ex-
periencing trauma; 
(iv) multi-generational interventions 
to— 
(I) support, including through 
skills building, parents (with an ap-
propriate emphasis on fathers), foster 
parents, adult caregivers, and front- 
line service providers described in 
clause (i)(I) in fostering safe, stable, 
and nurturing environments and rela-
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tionships that prevent and mitigate 
the effects of trauma for children and 
youth who have experienced or are at 
risk of experiencing trauma; 
(II) assist parents, foster par-
ents, and adult caregivers in learning 
to access resources related to such 
prevention and mitigation; and 
(III) provide tools to prevent and 
address caregiver or secondary trau-
ma, as appropriate; 
(v) community interventions for un-
derserved areas that have faced trauma 
through acute or long-term exposure to 
substantial discrimination, historical or 
cultural oppression, intergenerational pov-
erty, civil unrest, a high rate of violence, or 
a high rate of drug overdose mortality; 
(vi) assisting parents and guardians 
in understanding eligibility for and obtain-
ing certain health benefits coverage, in-
cluding coverage under a State Medicaid 
plan under title XIX of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) of screening 
and treatment for children and youth, and 
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