Bill Text: IL SR0489 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Encourages all officers and employees of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Illinois Department of Corrections to become informed regarding well-documented detrimental short-term and long-term impacts to children and adults from serious traumatic childhood experiences; and implement evidence-based interventions and practices that are proven to be successful in developing resiliency in children and adults currently suffering from trauma-related disorders to help them recover from their trauma and function at their full capacity and potential in school, the workplace, and community, family, and interpersonal relationships.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-29 - Resolution Adopted [SR0489 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR0489-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, There have been recent significant advances in | ||||||
3 | neuroscience with increased
understanding of how emotional | ||||||
4 | neglect and exposure to serious trauma affect the way children
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5 | perceive and interact with their world both during childhood | ||||||
6 | and into adulthood; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Post-traumatic stress disorder and other | ||||||
8 | trauma-related disorders in
children and adults can be caused | ||||||
9 | both by exposure to a single severe traumatic incident or by
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10 | exposure to a cumulative series of serious traumatic events; | ||||||
11 | and
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12 | WHEREAS, Such traumatic incidents and events include | ||||||
13 | emotional and physical abuse
and neglect, sexual abuse, | ||||||
14 | separation from or loss of a parent due to divorce or other | ||||||
15 | reasons,
serious injury or death of a parent, exposure to | ||||||
16 | family discord, domestic violence, parental
mental illness, | ||||||
17 | substance abuse, criminal activity in the home, and other | ||||||
18 | traumatic and
non-nurturing experiences and environments; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Abuse, neglect, and traumatic events compose part | ||||||
20 | of what has been
described in the medical literature as | ||||||
21 | "adverse childhood experiences" or "ACEs", and the
cumulative | ||||||
22 | potential impact to a child who has a significant history of |
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1 | exposure to neglect and
trauma can be calculated using what is | ||||||
2 | called an ACE score; and
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3 | WHEREAS, It is now understood that significant exposure to | ||||||
4 | severe traumatic events
as outlined above can negatively affect | ||||||
5 | the neurobiology and anatomy of a person's developing
brain and | ||||||
6 | result in a substantially impaired ability to absorb new | ||||||
7 | information, develop healthy
coping skills, and adapt to life's | ||||||
8 | challenges as the child becomes locked into a
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9 | "fight-flight-or-freeze" mode that becomes the child's and | ||||||
10 | future adult's default approach when interacting with the world | ||||||
11 | around them; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Children and adults whose brains have been | ||||||
13 | negatively affected by
exposure to severe or repeated serious | ||||||
14 | trauma, often experience persistent and sometimes
overwhelming | ||||||
15 | dysfunctional emotions of fear, anxiety, depression, | ||||||
16 | hopelessness, and anger,
and may exhibit socially | ||||||
17 | inappropriate labile and aggressive behaviors, or may exhibit | ||||||
18 | socially
inappropriate emotional detachment and avoidance | ||||||
19 | behaviors; and
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20 | WHEREAS, These negative coping behaviors and dysfunctional | ||||||
21 | emotions limit a
person's capacity to form healthy stable | ||||||
22 | relationships, foster social capital, learn from
experiences | ||||||
23 | and mistakes, set and achieve short and long-term goals, and |
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1 | succeed in
educational and vocational pursuits; and
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2 | WHEREAS, In addition to the above negative outcomes, | ||||||
3 | children and adults are more
likely to attempt to self medicate | ||||||
4 | trauma-related "fight-flight-or-freeze" anxiety and emotional
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5 | dysfunction by using available substances such as tobacco, | ||||||
6 | alcohol, prescription medications,
and street drugs, including | ||||||
7 | heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and cannabis; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Because of the cumulative adverse effects of the | ||||||
9 | above negative outcomes
on their physical health and emotional | ||||||
10 | and cognitive capabilities, children and adults affected
by | ||||||
11 | severe traumatic events, despite their sincere and best efforts | ||||||
12 | to succeed in life, are more
likely to:
(1) perform poorly in | ||||||
13 | school and other academic pursuits;
(2) struggle with work | ||||||
14 | performance and sustainable employment;
(3) become chronically | ||||||
15 | unemployed as adults, resulting in financial stress, reduced | ||||||
16 | quality of life, and increased risk of experiencing long-term | ||||||
17 | disability, homelessness, and other
personal and family | ||||||
18 | traumatic experiences;
(4) become dependent on and addicted to | ||||||
19 | tobacco, alcohol, prescription medications,
illicit drugs, and | ||||||
20 | other substances;
(5) become directly engaged with law | ||||||
21 | enforcement and the criminal justice system;
(6) suffer from | ||||||
22 | significant mental illness including depression, psychosis, | ||||||
23 | and severe
anxiety leading to suicides and attempted suicides | ||||||
24 | that otherwise would not have occurred;
(7) suffer from serious |
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1 | physical health problems with poor long-term outcomes that
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2 | otherwise would not have occurred;
(8) engage in high-risk | ||||||
3 | sexual behaviors as adolescents and adults, including onset of
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4 | sexual activity at an early age and multiple sexual partners, | ||||||
5 | resulting in increased risks of
adolescent pregnancy and | ||||||
6 | paternity, other unintended pregnancies, and sexually | ||||||
7 | transmitted
diseases;
(9) experience significant problems and | ||||||
8 | failures in marriage and other intimate partner relationships;
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9 | (10) become victims or perpetrators of intimate partner | ||||||
10 | violence as adults;
(11) struggle, despite their sincere | ||||||
11 | efforts, to provide a stable and nurturing environment
for | ||||||
12 | their current and future children, resulting in increased | ||||||
13 | likelihood of intergenerational
trauma and intergenerational | ||||||
14 | poverty; and
(12) face a life expectancy shortened by as many | ||||||
15 | as 20 years when compared to average
life expectancy for adults | ||||||
16 | who did not experience severe trauma as children; and
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17 | WHEREAS, With an increase in understanding about the | ||||||
18 | impacts of trauma has come
the development of evidence-based | ||||||
19 | questionnaires that identify behaviors and health-related
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20 | disorders in children and adults that can be indicative of | ||||||
21 | possible trauma-related exposures; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Using these questionnaires can provide the | ||||||
23 | opportunity to identify and
refer a child or adult for | ||||||
24 | appropriate additional evaluation and treatment; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The mental health profession can effectively | ||||||
2 | diagnose and treat
trauma-related disorders following | ||||||
3 | evidence-based approaches that have been proven to be
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4 | successful; and
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5 | WHEREAS, One example of a well-studied, highly effective | ||||||
6 | and widely available
therapy is trauma-focused cognitive | ||||||
7 | behavior therapy; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Early childhood offers an important window of | ||||||
9 | elevated opportunity to
prevent, treat, and heal the impacts of | ||||||
10 | adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress on a
child's | ||||||
11 | brain and body; and
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12 | WHEREAS, A critical factor in buffering a child from the | ||||||
13 | negative effects of toxic
stress and adverse childhood | ||||||
14 | experiences is the existence of at least one stable, supportive
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15 | relationship between the child and a nurturing adult; and
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16 | WHEREAS, With the increase in scientific understanding and | ||||||
17 | ability to identify,
prevent, and treat trauma-related | ||||||
18 | disorders, there is great hope for children
and adults to begin | ||||||
19 | healing from the negative effects of adverse childhood | ||||||
20 | experiences, develop
resiliency, and have brighter, more | ||||||
21 | productive futures than was previously possible; and
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1 | WHEREAS, In order to maximize the potential for positive | ||||||
2 | outcomes of
evidence-based interventions in the treatment of | ||||||
3 | severe trauma, it is imperative that employees
of the State of | ||||||
4 | Illinois and other people who interface directly with | ||||||
5 | vulnerable children and adults
become informed regarding the | ||||||
6 | effects of trauma on the human brain and available screening
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7 | and assessment tools and treatment interventions that lead to | ||||||
8 | increased resiliency in children
and adults who struggle in | ||||||
9 | life as the result of trauma-related disorders; therefore, be | ||||||
10 | it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
12 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage all | ||||||
13 | officers and employees of the Illinois State Board of | ||||||
14 | Education, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the | ||||||
15 | Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Illinois | ||||||
16 | Department of Corrections to become informed regarding | ||||||
17 | well-documented detrimental short-term and long-term impacts | ||||||
18 | to children and adults from serious traumatic childhood | ||||||
19 | experiences as outlined above and implement evidence-based | ||||||
20 | interventions and practices that are proven to be successful in | ||||||
21 | developing resiliency in children and adults currently | ||||||
22 | suffering from trauma-related disorders to help them recover | ||||||
23 | from their trauma and function at their full capacity and | ||||||
24 | potential in school, the workplace, and community, family, and |
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1 | interpersonal relationships; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
3 | delivered to the
Illinois State Board of Education, the | ||||||
4 | Illinois Department of Human Services, the Administrative | ||||||
5 | Office of the Courts, the Illinois Department of
Corrections, | ||||||
6 | and all nonprofit
agencies and other entities that contract | ||||||
7 | with the State of Illinois to provide services to vulnerable
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8 | children and adults.
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