Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi addresses trauma in floor speech on June 20, 2019
There is still a trace of amazement in child advocate Jenn O’Connor’s voice when she recalls the hallway encounter with New York Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, Chair of the Social Services Committee, who pulled her aside to talk about executive function. That conversation led to a broader discussion of ACEs science, trauma, and resilience with a focus on protective factors. Not long after, Hevesi and O’Connor penned an 2018 op-ed for the Queens Gazette that weaves these concepts together and calls for legislation action.
Hevesi educated himself, his staff, and other legislators and their staffs, by showing the film “Resilience” and diving deeper into the issue. He held a roundtable with about 20 participants including teachers, counselors, medical students, and others. Hevesi’s chief of staff, Alexa Arecchi, says that ACEs science got on his radar through the work of Prevent Child Abuse New York (both the Executive Director Timothy Hathaway and Director of Policy and Advocacy Jenn O’Connor) and the engagement of local and regional organizations such as the LaSalle School that provides therapeutic residential treatment in Albany, the Empire Justice Center, meeting with a team of NYU professors about the brain science, and hearing Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, the Surgeon General of California, speak on trauma. Arecchi says the topic is “ripe for policy.”
Hevesi also undertook legislative action—successfully spearheading the passage of a resolution proclaiming April 30, 2019 as “Adverse Childhood Experiences Awareness Day” in New York, and two laws, both signed by Governor Cuomo, to train direct service employees in domestic violence and child care in ACEs science and trauma, all in 2019.
The passage of A.4268/S.2659 (Act No. 391, signed 10/23/19), dealing with training domestic violence providers in ACEs science and trauma, marked the first time ACEs science was codified into law in New York State, according to Arecchi. The second bill, A.2766/S.4990 (Act No. 675, signed 12/16/19), calls for ACEs science training of childcare workers. A law was passed in 2018 (Chapter 460) that deals with child trauma.
Hevesi’s office is looking for other arenas in which children come in contact with adults in a professional setting that may be appropriate to have training to recognize ACEs science and provide trauma-informed care. Bills similar to the two ACEs-science training laws are being considered for family courts, including lawyers, youth services organizations, juvenile justice/corrections officers, school boards, state and local law enforcement, police, school counselors, and libraries.
One Hevesi bill is A2754/S6785, to ensure that “physicians undertake continuing medical education training in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) so that they are better prepared to treat their patients.” Both O’Connor and Arecchi noted the steeper climb presented by policy changes directed at medical education and practice. For example, O’Connor said that more fact finding—including an examination of California’s screening for ACEs in pediatric practice—is needed as part of developing policy options involving physician practice.
A high priority for Hevesi’s office is A7815/S6225, the Child Trauma Response Act (CTRA) in response to the trauma forced upon children during the federal government’s zero tolerance policy. See the video section of Hevesi’s legislative website (Scroll to "Plan to Support Unaccompanied Minors" for the June 20, 2019 speech) or his Facebook page for a lucid five-minute floor speech that explains ACEs science and trauma. Another Hevesi bill is A8242 that establishes a two-generation pilot program to study the impact of integrated multi-generational supports on families with young children living in poverty.
The story behind the legislative success sketched here includes just a few of the steps taken along the way. A complete history would need to include many more elements that contributed both directly and indirectly to this achievement. They would include years of work by the HEARTS initiative; the annual ACEs science conferences sponsored by the LaSalle School (held since 2014, starting with several hundred participants, now over 1,000); and thousands of trainings and other forums on ACEs science, trauma, and resilience.
The years of education and building support for trauma-informed policy laid a foundation for legislative success. What O’Connor calls the “ripple effect” of screening “Resilience” to nearly 4,000 people around the state by Prevent Child Abuse NY made an impact along with other screenings by the NY Association for the Education of Young Children. So did the passion, savvy, and eloquence of legislative champions—notably Hevesi, but also others who are both committed and serve on relevant committees, such as the chair of the Committee on Children and Families, Ellen Jaffee, and member, Pat Fahy, and Senator Alessandra Biaggi who serves on the Health Committee.
Hevesi’s legislative strategy includes incremental steps within a larger vision of creating a trauma-informed state. He started with a resolution, spearheaded two bills to promote training in domestic violence and child care, sectors where there was knowledge of trauma, and identified where additional education could be valuable, with his sights on deeper inroads to incorporate trauma-informed policy in the state. Meanwhile, other pockets of energy and activity are developing in the state that have potential to transform policy and practice in one of the nation’s largest bellwether states.
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