Durbin, Capito Introduce Bipartisan Rise From Trauma Act To Address Childhood Trauma

Durbin, Capito Introduce Bipartisan Rise From Trauma Act To Address Childhood Trauma

The legislation would expand support for children who have experienced trauma and address the cycle of violence and addiction

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) today reintroduced bipartisan legislation to increase support for children who have been exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma, including witnessing community violence, parental addiction, or abuse. The Resilience Investment, Support, and Expansion (RISE) from Trauma Act dramatically increases funding for community-based efforts to prevent and mitigate the impact of trauma, and it expands training and workforce development efforts to support health care, education, social services, first responders, and community leaders to foster resilience and deliver services to heal the impact of trauma. U.S. Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL-07) and Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) plan to re-introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Portions of Durbin and Capito's legislation were recently signed into law by President Trump through the SUPPORT Reauthorization Act, which will extend and increase funding for: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data collection activities on ACEs; an interagency task force to establish best practices on addressing trauma; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Child Traumatic Stress Network to develop and deliver mental health services in communities.

Since Durbin and Capito began working on child trauma issues together, among other provisions, they have increased appropriations for SAMHSA's National Child Traumatic Stress Network from $47 million to $99 million today. In Illinois, this is supporting research and services at Lurie Children's Hospital, Sinai Health, University of Chicago, La Rabida Children's Hospital, Northwestern University, and University of Illinois at Chicago.

"While we work to effectively address the root causes of violence and addiction in our communities, we must also focus on the ripple effect that exposure to violence and traumatic experiences has on our children and their future," said Durbin. "Unaddressed trauma can harm mental and physical health, life expectancy, school success, and employment. Our bipartisan RISE from Trauma Act invests in our communities and our workforce to support children and families facing trauma so they can heal their emotional scars and build a brighter future."

"I am proud to once again address the impact of trauma on children by helping to introduce the RISE from Trauma Act. This legislation builds on the work we have done over the past several years and reflects the needs I continue to hear from West Virginians across the state," Capito said. "By aiming to increase resources for our communities and taking steps to educate and expand our workforce, this legislation will help to prevent future substance abuse and violence, provide assistance and hope to our most vulnerable, and empower our next generation."

Nationwide, nearly 35 million children have had at least one traumatic experience, and nearly two-thirds of children have been exposed to violence. A recent study found that nearly 60 percent of the youngest children in Chicago lived in neighborhoods that accounted for 91 percent of homicides.

Far too many children carry the emotional weight of community violence and other traumatic experiences, such as the daily stress of abuse or neglect at home, a parent battling addiction, or an incarceration or a deportation of a loved one. Trauma can create stress on the developing brain and force children into constant "survival mode", impacting the way they process fear or form healthy relationships. Decades of research, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have established the link between a child's exposure to trauma, its effect on neurological and behavioral development, and long-term negative outcomes. In fact, studies show that individuals who have experienced six or more ACEs have a 20-year shorter average life expectancy, and those who have experienced four or more ACEs are ten times more likely to use illicit narcotics and 12 times more likely to attempt suicide. Yet only a small fraction of the children in need of support to address trauma receive such care.

The RISE from Trauma Act builds upon the conclusions published in a 2019 GAO report requested by Durbin and Rep. Davis and calls for increased resources and trauma-informed workforce for communities to support children who have experienced trauma.

The RISE from Trauma Act would expand the trauma-informed workforce in schools, health care settings, social services, first responders, and the justice system, and increase resources for communities to address the impact of trauma. Specifically, the bill:

1. Creates a new, $600 million HHS grant program to fund community-based coalitions that coordinate stakeholders and deliver targeted local services to address trauma;
2. Creates a new HHS grant program to support hospital-based trauma interventions, such as for patients that suffer violent injuries, to address mental health needs, prevent re-injury, and improve long-term outcomes;
3. Increases funding for the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program, in order to recruit more mental health clinicians-including from under-represented populations-to serve in schools;
4. Enhances federal training programs at HHS, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Education to provide more tools for early childhood clinicians, teachers, school leaders, first responders, and community leaders; and
5. Reauthorizes four critical federal programs that Durbin and Capito helped to pass in 2018: the Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the CDC's ACEs Data Collection program, and SAMHSA's Trauma Support in Schools grant program.

The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: American Academy of Pediatrics, Futures Without Violence, Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, American Psychological Association Services, National Association of School Psychologists, National Head Start Association, Big Brother Big Sisters of America, YWCA, Trust for America's Health, National PTA, American Psychological Association Services, and Zero to Three.

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