U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois addresses trauma briefing May 11, 2017
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Congressional sponsors of the “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act” (S. 774/H.R. 1757)—U.S. Senators Heitkamp and Durbin and U.S. Rep. Davis—never expected an up and down vote on the standalone bill as introduced, but knew that some provisions might be picked up and added to other bills or otherwise advanced as promising ideas to address trauma. Progress has been made in this way recently by the inclusion of trauma language in the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2018 spending bill for the departments of Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and through the acceptance by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of Senator Durbin’s and Rep. Davis’s request to do a review of how selected states identify and treat children and families who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing trauma.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WVA)
With the bipartisan support of two senators—Shelley Moore Capito (R-WVA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL)—language was included in an Appropriations Committee report issued September 7 that promotes coordination of federal activities that address child trauma, including data collection and grant awards. The language in S. Report 115-150 for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 addresses trauma in two major ways:
—encourages the Departments and agencies funded in this bill “to enhance coordination on activities that address child trauma, including data collection and awarding grants.” Agencies are encouraged to promote best practices related to trauma-informed interventions in child and youth-serving settings and to incorporate trauma-informed best practices broadly, including in training of front-line service providers. The language also calls for expansion of Performance Partnerships now used in programs for youth who are disconnected from school and work.
—encourages CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to “prioritize collection and reporting of data on adverse childhood experience, including exposure to violence.”
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is seeking organizational support for a thank you letter to Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Roy Blunt (R-MO), and ranking member, Patty Murray (D-WA), for their support of the trauma language in the committee report. Contact Dan Press (dsp@vnf.com) with CTIPP if your organization would like to sign on to the letter.
An attached document includes excerpts from the report that note related sections of S. 774/H.R. 1757. Also attached is the section-by-section summary of the bill. For additional background on the introduction of the trauma legislation, see this story in ACEsTooHigh.com.
In addition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) accepted a request from Senator Durbin and Rep. Davis to review “how selected states identify and treat children and families who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing trauma.” This review is similar to language in Section 303 of “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act” that calls for a GAO study on barriers and opportunities for identification and treatment of children and families who have experienced trauma. The GAO Education, Workforce, and Income Security team will be conducting the review—the same team that was represented by GAO staff member Kathryn Larin at the first comprehensive trauma briefing held in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 26. GAO expects the work to get underway in late November. Correspondence related to this request is attached.
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