Title: Expressing the mental health impacts of recurrent climate-related disasters on youth.
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives must take action on climate change and address the mental health effects of climate change on children and families.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 975 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 975

   Expressing the mental health impacts of recurrent climate-related 
                          disasters on youth.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2022

  Mr. Thompson of California (for himself and Ms. Castor of Florida) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                         on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the mental health impacts of recurrent climate-related 
                          disasters on youth.

Whereas there is a significant, negative impact that rapid and ongoing climate 
        change has on America's youth;
Whereas youth are especially vulnerable to the physical and mental health 
        impacts of climate-related disasters and the cumulative toll youth will 
        endure from additional exposure to increasing climate-related disasters;
Whereas youth represent a particularly vulnerable group because greenhouse gases 
        emitted into the atmosphere will impact today's and tomorrow's youth 
        throughout their biological, psychological, academic, and social 
        development;
Whereas an American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica report stated that, 
        as of 2016, as climate-related disasters continue to increase, more 
        youth will be directly affected by increasing rates of stress and trauma 
        through interruption in schooling, disruptions in routine, separation 
        from caregivers due to evacuations or displacement, and parental stress 
        after a disaster;
Whereas recent studies cited in the American Psychological Association and 
        ecoAmerica report have documented that high levels of stress during 
        childhood, such as those associated with the experience of a climate-
        related disaster or displacement, can affect the development of neural 
        pathways in ways that impair memory, executive function, and decision 
        making in later life;
Whereas a 2016 Social Science & Medicine study found that experiencing an 
        extreme weather event before age 5 resulted in higher levels of anxiety 
        and depression among adults;
Whereas studies document that many young people are grappling with the impact of 
        climate change;
Whereas recent studies confirm those from low-income communities, indigenous 
        communities, and communities of color are often the most vulnerable to 
        the worst impacts of climate change, such as flooding, drought, fire, 
        and extreme heat;
Whereas a study by the American Public Health Association and ecoAmerica, Making 
        the Connection: Climate Changes Mental Health, shows that up to 45 
        percent of youth have developed depression after a climate-related 
        disaster, affecting both their caregivers and the youth themselves;
Whereas a National Library of Medicine study found an association between 
        increases in pediatric psychiatrist visits and polluted air from 
        wildfires;
Whereas there are direct links between fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) exposure 
        and neuropsychological effects, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity 
        Disorder, decreased memory, depleted academic performance, and autism;
Whereas, according to a 2017 report by the Lancet Planetary Health Journal, The 
        Impact of Climate Change on Youth Depression and Mental Health, an 
        increase in emergency department visits was incited by higher levels of 
        humidity and rising temperatures;
Whereas, in 2021, 64 percent of Americans lived in places that experienced a 
        multiday heat wave, considered the most dangerous form of climate-
        related disaster and the frequency and intensity of climate-related 
        disasters is increasing exponentially;
Whereas a 2019 report suggested that as the frequency of heat waves increases 
        due to the climate crisis, school-based outdoor recreational 
        opportunities for youth that benefit mental and physical well-being will 
        be curtailed by extreme heat;
Whereas, in 2020, a poll from the Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation found 
        that 57 percent of teenagers stated they were frightened by climate 
        change, while 52 percent were angered by it and a mere 29 percent of 
        youth were optimistic for the future in regards to climate change;
Whereas, according to a 2021 study surveying over 10,000 youth, 45 percent of 
        respondents reported that thoughts of climate change have affected their 
        daily lives and abilities negatively;
Whereas, in 2021, The National Association of School Psychologists, representing 
        more than 25,000 members, declared the need to increase awareness of the 
        harmful effects of climate change on youth, increase resources, and 
        advocate for climate justice;
Whereas the American Psychological Association has issued a report stating that 
        children are among those facing the greatest impacts of climate change; 
        and
Whereas the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child has concluded 
        that children and youth are better off during adversity if they also 
        have the help of noncaregiver role models, such as teachers or coaches: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) shall take effective action on climate change, guided 
        by the science provided in the 2021 United Nations 
        Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, to protect 
        the mental health of current and future youth; and
            (2) supports the expansion of funding of climate education, 
        resilience, and adaptation projects that benefit the mental 
        health of youth, including--
                    (A) incorporating mental health into existing 
                disaster preparation efforts;
                    (B) engaging in education and outreach to reduce 
                the stigma associated with seeking treatment;
                    (C) reducing cost and increasing access for 
                treatment (e.g., through federally qualified health 
                centers and mobile and virtual health care);
                    (D) increasing insurance and Medicare and Medicaid 
                reimbursement for mental health care treatment;
                    (E) funding community-wide vulnerability 
                assessments;
                    (F) addressing inequity by studying the impacts of 
                income disparity at local levels that have been linked 
                to higher community-wide vulnerability to climate risk;
                    (G) expanding local, place-based, mutual aid 
                networks that supply mental health support during and 
                post climate-related disaster events; and
                    (H) providing direct funding to school districts 
                that need immediate resources to help children and 
                families cope with the mental health effects of 
                continued climate-related disasters.
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