Bills addressing trauma, ACEs in Congress

A brief published by Child Trends reports that 45 percent of children in the United States have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE). ACEs refer to a set of experiences, which can include abuse, neglect, and trauma, that are linked with negative health outcomes and behaviors. Child Trends also reports that children of different races and ethnicities have a higher reported percentage of children who have experienced at least one ACE compared to the national average – nationally, 61 percent of black non-Hispanic children and 51 percent of Hispanic children have experienced at least one ACE.

How is Congress working to address this?

Several newly introduced bills on Capitol Hill address childhood trauma, social and emotional learning, and the role that afterschool programs can play in protecting against and addressing trauma.

The RISE (Resilience Investment, Support, and Expansion) from Trauma Act of 2019 is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). This bill that aims to build the trauma-informed workforce in schools, health care settings, social services, first responders, and the justice system, and expand upon the resources available in communities to address trauma. Afterschool programs and agencies focused on early childhood education are listed as some of the eligible entities to receive funding. One part of the bill includes an expansion of the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth, which focuses on youth ages 14-24, to provide support to young children and families who have been exposed to trauma. Local, state, and tribal entities would also be able to combine funding from federal grants to increase the number of services addressing trauma offered to high-risk populations that usually receive services from different programs. The bill includes focuses on other areas such as expanding opportunities for art therapy, implementing hospital-based trauma interventions to prevent hospital readmission, prioritizing AmeriCorps recruitment from communities that have experienced high levels of trauma, and more.

The Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2019 is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.) that seeks to increase the access to evidence-based, comprehensive mental health programs for youth that would be based in local schools and communities. The bill would provide competitive grants to implement and build upon this model that Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, Bill Sponsor, has already implemented in her district with positively reported outcomes. Funds for the comprehensive school-based mental health programs can be used to develop and implement evidence-based afterschool programs as a way to support students who may have been exposed to trauma or violence. Ultimately, the bill would expand upon the supports already provided by youth-serving programs, through encouraging the implementation of best practices related to education, physical health, mental health and trauma-informed care, social services, and training for families and community members.

The Success in the Middle Act of 2019, sponsored by Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), would award grants to state educational agencies to provide comprehensive supports to middle school students, preparing them for success in their secondary and post-secondary education. This bill includes a focus on providing middle school students with academic and social and emotional supports, improving the transitions for students between elementary, middle, and secondary school, and providing professional development to staff to implement evidence-based models. State educational agencies receiving this grant will make competitive subgrants to eligible local educational agencies to support the improvement of low-performing middle grades in their schools. The schools served by these local educational agencies will also be required to provide “integrated student support services,” which includes the access to mental health and trauma-informed care services. While the bill does not explicitly mention afterschool, the bill does include a piece on collaboration between state and local educational agencies and other non-profits that have expertise based in intervention for middle school students, which could be a key place for afterschool to come into play. The emphasis on integrated student support services also provides an opportunity for afterschool programs to be involved.

The role of afterschool

Afterschool and summer programs provide children with a safe environment, offer valuable learning opportunities for academic enrichment and social and emotional learning, and provide students with a supportive and caring adult figure. These programs act as key partners in comprehensive and community-based approaches to trauma-informed care, and can play an important role in both protecting against and addressing the trauma that children may have experienced.