The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is inviting individuals and organizations to express their support for a set of executive actions for the Biden-Harris Administration to take “to address trauma and build resilience throughout the country.” Most of these actions could be taken early in the Administration and would not require congressional action with the exception of some recommendations that could be included in a new stimulus package.

The recommendations are described in a brief entitled “A Trauma-Informed Agenda for the First 100 Days of the Biden-Harris Administration (attached).” If you and/or your organization would like to sign on (indicate exactly how you want your name or organization to appear), contact Dan Press, CTIPP Policy Chair and General Counsel via email (jesse@traumacampaign.org).

In a widely circulated email request for signatories to the letter (attached), Press said the goal of the sending the brief with individual and organization support is “to demonstrate the widespread support for a trauma-informed and resilience-focused agenda, and to set out steps the new Administration can take on its own to move that agenda forward.”  He also encouraged that the email be widely circulated to any individual, organization, or network to increase the number of signatures, saying “There is power in numbers.”

The sign-on letter to the Biden-Harris Administration Transition Team (attached) transmits a recommendation-rich 2 ½ page brief (attached) that leads with this— “We must build a culture of healing in our nation to overcome the collective trauma we are experiencing.  COVID-19, the economy, and political divisions are the latest traumas that perpetuate a legacy of suffering in our country.  The resources and tools are available, now, to implement these recommendations.”

The recommendations for short-term priorities in the brief fall into two broad categories:  first, to address the psycho-social-emotional impact of the pandemic and second, to address cross-cutting priorities related to trauma and ACEs, described as " the trauma that has harmed so many families and communities for many generations, far beyond the pandemic.”

The recommendations related to psycho-social-emotional impact of the pandemic include:

Education—Direct the Secretary of Education to share tools to implement trauma-informed programs in schools and all relevant Secretaries to specify use of funds for such programs, especially in schools located in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
Workforce—Direct the Secretary of Labor “to provide employers in industries that employ a high percentage of low-income workers with education about the impact of trauma on their workers and approaches to support them.”
Public Health—Develop population-level prevention efforts aimed at individuals and communities including providing guidance on how funds can be used to promote community and population-level resilience to address the trauma caused by the pandemic.
Secondary and Vicarious Trauma—Provide trauma-informed and resilience strategies for those most at-risk for secondary/vicarious trauma, including teachers, law enforcement, and health care workers.
Racial, Intergenerational and Historical Trauma—Acknowledge the impact of legacies of racism and other forms of oppression and target healthcare funding to those individuals most at-risk (Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities) and increase their representation in shaping public policy and engaging them in translating policy in local community action.

The recommendations relating to cross-cutting cutting priorities to address trauma and ACEs include:

National Healing Campaign—Establish a goal of preventing ACEs and reducing their impact by 50% by 2030.
Federal Trauma-Informed and Anti-Racism Training—Require online trauma-informed and anti-racist training for all federal employees engaged in human services programs.
Healing in All Policies—Issue an Executive Order requiring that all new policies being implemented by Federal agencies be reviewed through a trauma-informed and anti-racist lens to examine their potential to reduce and remedy adversity and trauma.
Coordinate and Train—Direct HHS (Health and Human Services) to improve coordination among maternal and child, youth, and family programs.
Reinstate Trainings for Anti-Racism and Structural Racism—Rescind the Executive Order banning anti-racism training.
Healing Priority Populations—Direct agencies serving populations suffering from high levels of trauma to develop plans to make the programs trauma-informed and resilience-focused.
Addressing Trauma at the Border—Reallocate funds taken from DOD and other agencies for the Border Wall and use it to provide trauma-informed services to promote health among the families who have and are continuing to suffer trauma as a result of family separation and other border policies.

This brief was developed by Dr. Christina Bethell, Daniel Press, Jesse Kohler, and Leslie Lieberman (all members of the CTIPP Board of Directors) in consultation with other trauma-informed advocates from around the country.

CTIPP is requesting that individuals and organizations to do two things:  

1. Add your name and/or your organization's name to the letter to the Biden-Harris Administration Transition Team in support of the brief. All you have to do is send an email to Dan Press, CTIPP Policy Chair and General Counsel via Jesse Kohler at jesse@traumacampaign.org to request being added. Indicate exactly how you want your name or organization to appear, e.g., Susan Advocate, Chicago, Illinois for an individual or Build Trauma-Informed Communities Now for an organization;

2. Share the request with others who might also want to sign on before the Dec. 8 deadline. Simply forward the attached email  from Dan Press.