HR 1757 addresses the psychological, developmental, social, and emotional needs of children, youth, and families who have experienced trauma through the following efforts:
Identify best practices – Creates a federal task force comprised of HHS, ED, DOJ, and relevant tribal agencies to coordinate efforts and establish best practices for identifying and supporting children that have experienced trauma;
Disseminate best practices – Provides teachers, doctors, social service providers, and first responders with the tools to help children who have experienced trauma by creating an eligible use of funding for several federal grant programs to be used for this training;
Train key stakeholders – Creates law enforcement and Native American coordinating centers that will share information, improve awareness, and enhance training on trauma’s impact;
Test new models – Increases funding for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative to evaluate new strategies for improving trauma-informed prevention and care;
Improve understanding of trauma – Requires the CDC to improve data collection on trauma prevalence, and directs CDC and GAO to conduct studies to identify barriers to coordination;
Expand treatment capacity – Pilots a Medicaid Demonstration Program to text expanded coverage of child trauma services, and expands mental health care in schools;
Support workforce development – Expands loan repayment programs for clinicians who serve in high-need communities; develops training guidelines for non-clinical providers in trauma care; and improves graduate school and pre-service training for teachers and clinicians;
Foster community coordination – Creates a grant program to bring together stakeholders to identify needs, collect data, and target efforts. Additionally, builds on the Performance Partnership Pilot to pool federal grants from multiple agencies and focus the funding on increasing trauma services for children and families.
Companion bill: S. 774, sponsored by Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
