Bill Text: IL SB0646 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Creates the Task Force for a Healing-Centered Illinois Act. Creates the Healing-Centered Illinois Task Force to advance the State's efforts to become trauma-informed and healing-centered through improved alignment of existing efforts, common definitions and metrics, and strategic planning for long-term transformation. Sets forth the Task Force's objectives, including, but not limited to: (i) recommending shared language and common definitions for the State to become trauma-informed and healing-centered across sectors by aligning language and definitions included in the work of the Whole Child Task Force, the Children's Mental Health Transformation Initiative, and the Illinois Children's Mental Health Plan; (ii) ensuring the meaningful inclusion in Task Force matters of young people, parents, survivors of trauma, and residents who have engaged with Illinois systems or policies, such as child welfare and the legal criminal system; (iii) identifying the current training capacity and the training needs to support healing-centered and trauma-informed environments among organizations, professional cohorts, educational institutions, and future practitioners and project how best to meet those needs; and (iv) identifying what, if any, administrative or legislative policy changes are needed to advance goals to make Illinois a healing-centered or trauma-informed State. Contains provisions on Task Force membership; Task Force meetings; and reporting requirements. Provides that the Task Force is dissolved, and the Act is repealed, one year after the date of the Task Force's report.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-08-11 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0545 [SB0646 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB0646-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning health.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Task
Force for a Healing-Centered Illinois Act.
Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly makes the
following findings:
(1) The short-term, long-term, and multi-generational
impacts of trauma are well-documented and include
increased risk for reduced life expectancy, cancer,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking, substance
abuse, depression, unplanned pregnancies, low birth
weight, and suicide attempts as well as workplace
absenteeism, unemployment, lower educational achievement,
and lower wages.
(2) Trauma-informed and healing-centered principles,
policies, and practices can prevent and mitigate the
adverse health and social outcomes associated with trauma.
(3) Equitable strategies and a multisector approach
are needed to ensure that all residents at every stage of
life have the supports at home and in their communities
that build well-being, buffer against negative
experiences, foster healing, and make it possible to

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thrive.
(4) The State of Illinois is a national leader in
supporting trauma-informed strategies and is committed to
becoming a trauma-informed and healing-centered State.
(5) The State of Illinois has previously recognized
the impact of trauma on its residents' health and
well-being, including through Trauma-Informed Awareness
resolutions in 2019, 2021, and 2022, the creation of the
Whole Child Task Force in 2021, and the Children's Mental
Health Transformation Initiative established in 2022.
(6) The State of Illinois has public entities, such as
the State Board of Education, the Department of Human
Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the
Department of Public Health, and the Illinois Criminal
Justice Information Authority, non-governmental entities,
such as the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition and the
Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative, and public-private
entities, such as the Illinois Children's Mental Health
Partnership, leading efforts related to being
trauma-informed and healing-centered.
(7) Better coordination and alignment of existing
trauma-informed and healing-centered activities among
public and non-governmental agencies will lead to more
effective, equitable, and consistently high-quality
implementation of services and supports to Illinois
residents.

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(8) Designing a sustainable structure to support and
measure trauma-informed, healing-centered activities is
essential to long-term transformation and should take into
consideration the importance of providing ongoing training
and support to the multisector, multidisciplinary
workforce, as well as ongoing research to inform the
development and implementation of trauma-informed,
healing-centered policies, practices, and programs.
Section 10. Purpose. The Healing-Centered Illinois Task
Force is created to advance the State's efforts to become
trauma-informed and healing-centered through improved
alignment of existing efforts, common definitions and metrics,
and strategic planning for long-term transformation. The Task
Force shall have the following objectives:
(1) Recommend shared language and common definitions
for the State to become trauma-informed and
healing-centered across sectors by aligning language and
definitions included in the work of the Whole Child Task
Force, the Children's Mental Health Transformation
Initiative, and the Illinois Children's Mental Health
Plan.
(2) Ensure the meaningful inclusion in Task Force
matters of young people, parents, survivors of trauma, and
residents who have engaged with Illinois systems or
policies, such as child welfare and the legal criminal

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system.
(3) Identify the current training capacity and the
training needs to support healing-centered and
trauma-informed environments among organizations,
professional cohorts, educational institutions, and future
practitioners and project how best to meet those needs.
(4) Design a process identifying what data are needed
to understand the dimensions of trauma in the State and
the status of the trauma-related work in Illinois and
identify current relevant data sources in Illinois.
(5) Recommend a process for collecting and aggregating
such data identified, as well as a process for improving
transparency and accountability by developing and
maintaining a platform of aggregated data that is
accessible to a range of stakeholders, including the
public.
(6) Identify existing State resources that are being
invested to support trauma-informed and healing-centered
work, develop recommendations to align these resources,
and propose an approach and recommendations to support
ongoing or expanded stable resources for this work.
(7) Identify what, if any, administrative or
legislative policy changes are needed to advance goals to
make Illinois a healing-centered or trauma-informed State.
(8) Recommend an overarching organizational structure
to ensure coordination, alignment, and progress to make

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Illinois a trauma-informed, healing-centered State.
(9) Devise a set of benchmarks to measure success in
advancing the State toward becoming trauma-informed and
healing-centered and a process for measuring them.
Section 15. Membership. Members of the Healing-Centered
Illinois Task Force must represent the diversity of this State
and possess the expertise needed to perform the work required
to meet the objectives of the Task Force set forth under
Section 10. Members of the Task Force shall include the
following:
(1) One representative of a statewide coalition
addressing childhood trauma, appointed by the Lieutenant
Governor.
(2) One representative of a statewide collaborative
addressing trauma across the lifespan (birth through older
adulthood), appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.
(3) One representative from the Resilience Education
to Advance Community Healing (REACH) Statewide Initiative,
appointed by the Superintendent of the Illinois State
Board of Education.
(4) One member of the General Assembly, appointed by
the President of the Senate.
(5) One member of the General Assembly, appointed by
the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(6) One member of the General Assembly, appointed by

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the Minority Leader of the Senate.
(7) One member of the General Assembly, appointed by
the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
(8) The Director of the Governor's Children's Mental
Health Transformation Initiative or the Director's
designee.
(9) The Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority or the Director's designee.
(10) The Director of Public Health or the Director's
designee.
(11) The Secretary of Human Services or the
Secretary's designee.
(12) The State Superintendent of Education or the
State Superintendent's designee.
(13) The Director of Juvenile Justice or the
Director's designee.
(14) The Director of Corrections or the Director's
designee.
(15) The Director of Children and Family Services or
the Director's designee.
(16) The Director of Aging or the Director's designee.
(17) The Director of Healthcare and Family Services or
the Director's designee.
(18) The Chair of the Illinois Law Enforcement
Training Standards Board or the Chair's designee.
(19) The Director of the Administrative Office of the

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Illinois Courts or the Director's designee.
(20) Up to 5 additional representatives appointed by
the Lieutenant Governor who have expertise in
trauma-informed policies and practices within health care,
public health, public education, the criminal legal
system, violence prevention, child welfare, human
services, adult behavioral health services, children's
behavioral health services, or law enforcement.
(21) Up to 3 representatives who have been impacted by
State systems, including the criminal legal system and
child welfare, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.
(22) At least one representative from student and
youth counsels or advisory groups focused on advancing
awareness and resources for mental health and
trauma-informed services in diverse communities across the
State, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.
(23) At least one representative from an organization
that brings parents together to improve mental health and
supports for children and families, appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor.
(24) One representative from a public-private
partnership to support children's behavioral health,
appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.
Section 20. Meetings. The Healing-Centered Illinois Task
Force shall meet at the call of the Lieutenant Governor or his

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or her designee, who shall serve as the chairperson. The
Office of the Lieutenant Governor shall provide administrative
support to the Task Force. Members of the Task Force shall
serve without compensation except those designated by the
Lieutenant Governor at the time of appointment as community or
system-impacted people may receive stipends as compensation
for their time.
Section 25. Reports. The Healing-Centered Illinois Task
Force shall submit a report of its findings and
recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor
within one year after the effective date of this Act. The Task
Force is dissolved, and this Act is repealed, one year after
the date of the report.