Full Text of SR0489 100th General Assembly
SR0489 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 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
| 5 | | perceive and interact with their world both during childhood | 6 | | and into adulthood; and
| 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
| 10 | | exposure to a cumulative series of serious traumatic events; | 11 | | and
| 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
| 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 | 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
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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
| 5 | | dysfunction by using available substances such as tobacco, | 6 | | alcohol, prescription medications,
and street drugs, including | 7 | | heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and cannabis; and | 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
| 2 | | otherwise would not have occurred;
(8) engage in high-risk | 3 | | sexual behaviors as adolescents and adults, including onset of
| 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;
| 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 | 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
| 20 | | disorders in children and adults that can be indicative of | 21 | | possible trauma-related exposures; and | 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
| 4 | | successful; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, One example of a well-studied, highly effective | 6 | | and widely available
therapy is trauma-focused cognitive | 7 | | behavior therapy; and | 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 | 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
| 15 | | relationship between the child and a nurturing adult; and
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 8 | | children and adults.
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