Full Text of HR0826 98th General Assembly
HR0826 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Research-based prevention and wellness promotion | 3 | | efforts that strengthen positive parenting practices and | 4 | | enhance a child's resilience in the face of adversity have been | 5 | | shown to have a significant impact on the child's mental and | 6 | | physical health and their educational outcomes; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Center for Disease Control defines positive | 8 | | parenting skills as good communication, appropriate | 9 | | discipline, and responding to children's physical and | 10 | | emotional needs; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Studies in the last decade point to the wisdom and | 12 | | efficacy of prevention and early intervention; well-designed | 13 | | programs created to promote healthy cognitive, emotional, and | 14 | | social development can improve the prospects and the quality of | 15 | | life of many children; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Evidence-based parenting programs have been shown | 17 | | to provide critical information on child development and | 18 | | safety, promote positive parenting behaviors, teach effective | 19 | | discipline strategies, alter negative family patterns, and | 20 | | reduce levels of child abuse and neglect; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Positive parenting practices are directly linked |
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| 1 | | to adaptive behaviors in children and can buffer negative | 2 | | outcomes, even among at-risk families; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, While positive parenting strategies can promote | 4 | | adjustment and achievement, child abuse and neglect can | 5 | | interrupt healthy development in children and lead to | 6 | | maladaptive functioning; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Child abuse and neglect is a serious public health | 8 | | problem that costs the United States $103 billion annually; | 9 | | these costs include $33 billion in direct costs for foster care | 10 | | services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law | 11 | | enforcement and $70 billion for indirect costs, such as loss of | 12 | | productivity, chronic health problems, and special education; | 13 | | and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Research shows an association between child | 15 | | maltreatment and a broad range of social problems, including | 16 | | substance abuse, violence, criminal behavior, teenage | 17 | | pregnancy, anxiety, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, | 18 | | obesity, and diabetes; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Nobel prize-winning economist James J. Heckman | 20 | | and others have shown that for every dollar devoted to the | 21 | | nurturing of young children, we can mitigate the need for far | 22 | | greater government spending on remedial education, teenage |
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| 1 | | pregnancy, and prison incarceration; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, By almost any statistical measure, children in the | 3 | | United States today are losing ground compared to the recent | 4 | | past; the educational performance of American children is lower | 5 | | and does not compare well with many other developed nations; | 6 | | the general health of American children has grown worse, as | 7 | | shown in the incidence and increased prevalence of obesity, | 8 | | juvenile diabetes, and other disorders and diseases; more | 9 | | American children as exhibiting troubling and violent | 10 | | behavior, resulting in increases in children being expelled | 11 | | from pre-school, elementary school, and high school, and | 12 | | approximately 40% of children are dropping out of high school; | 13 | | children and youth homicide rates are also on the rise | 14 | | throughout the nation; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Researchers have found that, left untreated, the | 16 | | effects of child abuse and neglect can profoundly influence | 17 | | victims' physical and mental health, their ability to control | 18 | | emotions and impulses, their achievement in school, and the | 19 | | relationships they form as children and as adults; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In the first major study of child abuse and | 21 | | neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of | 22 | | Sciences reported that the damaging consequences of abuse can | 23 | | reshape a child's brain, resulting in consequences that last |
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| 1 | | throughout their lives; abuse and neglect can influence the | 2 | | amygdala, the part of the brain that regulates emotions, | 3 | | particularly fear and anxiety; abuse also has been shown to | 4 | | change the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the part of | 5 | | the brain responsible for thinking, planning, reasoning, and | 6 | | decision making, which can lead to behavioral and academic | 7 | | problems; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The effects of abuse on a child's brain and | 9 | | behavioral development are not static and can be reduced with | 10 | | high-quality, sustained intervention; the negative changes | 11 | | present in a child's brain can be countered by positive brain | 12 | | changes that take place when the abuse ends and the child is | 13 | | given the support he or she requires; parenting education is an | 14 | | important way to address mental illness before it results in | 15 | | negative outcomes for children and families; therefore, be it
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we state our belief that human services, healthcare, education | 19 | | and justice authorities on the federal, State, and local levels | 20 | | must include parenting education and early childhood education | 21 | | funding in their budgets in order to combat this growing | 22 | | menace; and be it further
| 23 | | RESOLVED, That we state our belief that access to |
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| 1 | | universal, high-quality, and research-based parenting | 2 | | education will equip parents with skills that can help them to | 3 | | do the most important job they will ever have: raising | 4 | | confident, well-adjusted, and productive members of society; | 5 | | and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | 7 | | identify potential federal grants for states that can be used | 8 | | for parenting programs and early care and education programs; | 9 | | and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | 11 | | require early care and education programs and to require | 12 | | elementary, middle, and high schools to have family engagement | 13 | | policies and procedures in place that welcome and involve | 14 | | families in meaningful partnerships focused on children's | 15 | | learning; programs should seek to include a high-quality | 16 | | parenting education component, as well as to reduce barriers to | 17 | | family engagement and offer diverse opportunities and pathways | 18 | | for families to be involved in programs that enable them to be | 19 | | successful partners in their child's education; and be it | 20 | | further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | 22 | | consider the potential benefits of requiring a course in | 23 | | parenting education as a prerequisite for high school |
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| 1 | | graduation; and be it further | 2 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 3 | | delivered to the State Board of Education.
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