Title: Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Recognizes the importance, effectiveness, and need for trauma-informed care among existing federal programs and agencies. (Trauma-informed care takes into account a patient's history of trauma in the design of the patient's treatment.) Encourages the use of trauma-informed care within the federal government.
Expresses support for the designation of National Trauma Awareness Month and National Trauma-Informed Awareness Day.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 443 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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, emotional, physical, spiritual, economic, 
        and social well-being;
Whereas Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can be traumatizing 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 lifetime of physical, mental, and social 
        challenges;
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 affected by trauma;
Whereas trauma-informed care is not a therapy or an intervention, 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 workplaces, 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 established 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 nonprofit organizations to make Wisconsin the first 
trauma-informed State. The goal of Fostering Futures is to reduce 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 understanding of historical trauma and 
childhood adversity and by developing culturally relevant, trauma-informed 
practices.

    (3) Chicago, Illinois: schools of medicine provide critical trauma-
informed care, including the University of Illinois at Chicago 
Comprehensive Assessment and Response 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 residents who are coping with community violence.

    (4) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: service providers, academics, and local 
artists use art to engage their community to educate and involve citizens 
in trauma-informed care activities.

    (5) San Francisco, California: the city's public health department 
aligned its workforce to create a trauma-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-informed 
culture change.

    (7) Tarpon Springs, Florida: the city crafted a community effort to 
gather city officials, professionals, and residents to coordinate multiple 
trauma-informed activities, 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 support to better engage individuals dealing with trauma or 
extreme emotional distress.

    (9) Walla Walla, Washington: the city and community members launched 
the Children's Resilience Initiative to mobilize neighborhoods and 
Washington State agencies to tackle ACEs.

    (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-informed 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 reduce 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 
        development, and the benefits of trauma-informed care: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (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 Trauma Awareness 
        Month'' and the designation of a ``National Trauma-Informed 
        Awareness Day'' during such month to highlight community 
        resilience through trauma-informed change.
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