Transcripts For CSPAN Hearing On How Schools Deal With Childhood Trauma 20240714

Committee on education and labor will come to order. Welcome, everyone. I note that a performance present. The committee a quorum is present. The committee is meeting to hear testimony on the importance of trauma and practices in education to assist students impacted by gun violence and other adversities. Miss beth of georgia, of minnesota, miss the of wilde ofiss pennsylvania, and mr. Pastor of texas, are permitted to participate in todays hearings with the understanding that their questions will come on the after all members of the subcommittee have had an opportunity to question the witness. ,ursuant to committee will 7c Opening Statements are limited to the chair and the Ranking Member. This allows us to hear from or witnesses sooner and provides all members with time to ask questions. Can you hear me all right . All right. I recognize myself now for the purpose of making an opening statement. I want to begin by acknowledging that this morning marks 18 years since the terrorist attacks that struck new york, pennsylvania, and the pentagon on september 11, 2001. Let us please take a moment to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost in those attacks. Chairman sablan thank you. This morning, we are here to discuss the federal governments responsibility to ensure that every child from the marianas to maine has a nurturing learning environment. Today, many children are prevented from reaching their full potential because they are suffering from the significant, longterm effects of trauma. In fact, 34 million children, or 45 of children, have endured an Adverse Childhood Experience that can hinder their ability to learn and grow. Extensive Research Shows that children who have experienced trauma and toxic stress are more likely to be forced into fightorflight mode. In school, this can often manifest in trouble paying attention, an impulse to fight, and depression or anger. These challenges can be further compounded by harsh school discipline, instead of helpful support, if a school is unaware of the science of trauma and toxic stress. My third grade teacher should have known this. But seriously, the trauma and stress of Natural Disasters has also affected Student Learning and wellbeing. For the over 950 Hopwood Middle School students in my district who lost their campus to super typhoon yutu, starting the new school year in femabuilt tents is certainly not an ideal learning environment especially when the students themselves had their homes lost or damaged. Damage from the storm has also forced schools to send their students to attend halfday sessions at other schools, robbing them of a full day of learning and the emotional security of having a Campus Community of their own. While we do not yet fully understand how these students will fare over time under these circumstances, studies show that over a lifetime, victims of trauma can face a higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse, greater risk of suicide, and shorter lifespan. Dr. Robert block, former president of the American Academy of pediatrics, has been widely quoted as saying, Adverse Childhood Experiences are the single greatest unaddressed Public Health threat facing our nation today. Children across the world experienced trauma, the United States is not unique in that regard, but there are specific, preventable forms of trauma that our children experience more frequently than anywhere else in the world. The most notable example is gun violence. Americas gun homicide rate for 1524yearolds is nearly 50 times higher than in other highincome countries. 50 times. According to a database maintained by the washington post, 228,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since the columbine tragedy in 1999. 228,000 students. Americans, of course, are not 50 times more violent than citizens of other developed nations. Of course not. But what distinguishes us from other developed nations is that we have failed to pass basic gun violence prevention laws that are supported by an overwhelming share of our constituents. The consequences of that failure are felt in communities like odessa, el paso, dayton, and virginia beach, which have all experienced Mass Shootings in the past three months. They are also felt by residents in chicago, st. Louis, detroit, and other cities where families live under the constant threat of gun violence. While this hearing is about implementing traumainformed School Practices, we cannot ignore the reality that much of this trauma is preventable. Reducing gun violence, ending family separations, improving access to Mental Health care, quickly rebuilding schools lost to Natural Disasters, addressing poverty, are some of the many changes we can make to improve the quality of life for children across the country. But given that we have shown little ability to address these issues, the very these we can do is help schools educate children who shoulder the burden of our inaction. More than 70 of children who need Mental Health services do not receive the appropriate care. Lowincome students of color, who are more likely to experience trauma, are often concentrated at segregated Public Schools that cannot afford critical Mental Health resources. And as a result, children of color disproportionally suffer the physical and emotional effects of trauma. A recent report by the Government Accountability office found that states are facing numerous issues supporting children affected by trauma, including funding challenges. To make matters worse, president trump, and the Congressional Republicans are further restricting Mental Healthcare at schools by repeatedly moving to slash funding for k12 education. This includes the elimination of title ii funding for Teachers Professional Development and the a program,tle iv which is designed to improve School Conditions for Student Learning. The experts here today will broaden our understanding of how traumainformed care can be integrated into learning practices, student discipline, and support services to improve graduation rates, student achievement, and school climate. They will also help us understand how congress can support traumainformed practices that are proven to help students succeed. Todays discussion is an important step towards addressing a pervasive Public Health issue that is affecting communities throughout and across the country. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here. I now yield to the Ranking Member, mr. Allen, for his opening statement. Allen thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for recognizing the anniversary of sorry mr. Chairman, thank you for recognizing the anniversary of 9 11, and note that this discussion is particularly poignant given this date. Sadly, far too many children are affect by trauma, because of their age or reliance on adults to keep them safe, children are more vulnerable to trauma. Studies show that 26 of children will experience a traumatic event before they turn 4. And more than two thirds of children reported at least one traumatic event by age 16. What is more disturbing of the statistics surrounding children in the welfare system. 95 of children reported psychological and physical abuse. 99 reported psychological and sexual abuse. This is absolutely heartbreaking. Trauma can include any variety of frightening events such as physical and sexual abuse, cyber bullying, or the death of a loved one. These can be caused by events at home, in the community, or around the world. Twodren that face more than traumatic experiences in their life can develop reactions that negatively impact their daily lives in fact, trauma can affect a childs education and impair their learning Research Shows that there is a correlation , anden traumatic events cognitive and behavioral issues. A study of more than 1000 children from 20 large cities in the United States found that traumatic events in Early Childhood or associated with below average academic and literacy skills. In fact, i have been told in my district that if a child is reading at the level of thirdgrade by the time they finished the thirdgrade if he is not reading by then, he is more likely to have a lot of schools and has an 85 chance of the incarcerated. School staff can act as a critical support system for traumatized children and their families. If a student is acting out, failing tests or having difficulty concentrating, it may be a sign of trauma. If teachers understand what is a, test student and what they are facing, they can better accommodate and help this child needs in the classroom. However, teachers are no replacement for family and faith. , grandpas and grandmas can never be replaced in the left of a child. Faith cannot be replaced in the life of a child. Education is just one piece of supporting and shaping children. All of us in this room want to see our nations children and make sure they are loved, happy, safe and successful. In fact, in my goal when i run quitffice it is time to losing our children. There is not a person here that does not care deeply about their futures. That is why we shouldnt turn any kind of trauma experience by a child into a political platform. Instead. , we should focus on equipping families, schools and communities with the tools they youngo shape americans to be successful leaders. We have a vested and sincere interest in the wellbeing of our nations children. They are our future. This hearing will examine the effects of trauma on schoolchildren and how to identify and address them, and most importantly, how we can help students have access to is safe, supportive and Healthy Learning environment. As a point of personal privilege, i had the opportunity while we were on our district work period to visit with many school officials. I will not name the superintendent, but i had the asortunity to visit with him tears came to his eyes and he youngbed three suicides, people in that School System last year. I asked him why. Said, they are without hope. Where is the hope . Too, that isting, was given a book in a meeting two weekends ago called death on hold. I never thought somebody on death row would teach me what this gentleman, mitch, taught me when reading this book, about what he went through as a child, what he experienced in the streets, why he was on death row, and why now he is making an impact, on so many lives, particularly young people who are making bad choices. I highly recommend this book. It is required reading for members of congress, because i think they will see where the real problem lies. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I look forward to hearing our witnesses today. Chairman sablan thank you very much, Ranking Member allen. Without objection, all the members who would like to insert written statements into the record may do so by inserting them electronically by 5 00 p. M. September 20. I will now introduce our witnesses. Harris is the Surgeon General of california. She is also an awardwinning physician, researcher and advocate dedicated to changing the way our schools, the way our society, excuse me, responsys to one of the most serious, extensive and widespread public crises of our time, childhood trauma. Previously, she founded the center for youth wellness and subsequently grew the organization to be a National Leader in the effort to advance video trick medicine pediatric medicine, raise public awareness, and address the way that children exposed to experiences suffer toxic stress. Should also lead the Bay Area Research consortium to advance scientific screening and treatment of toxic stress. Dr. Nadine burke harris has published academic articles on advanced. Children with guesses in trauma she also published a book called the deepest well heating the longterm effects of childhood adversity. You have been busy, dr. Harris. Is ther. Ingrida barker associate superintendent of schools in West Virginia. She is in her 16th year as an educator. She is best six of which were teachingd to at Sandy River Middle School and three spent as a High School Administrator in charge of curriculum and instructions at riverview high my youngest happened to be Public School teachers. Servesly, dr. Barker as the title ix coordinator and works extensively to support the development of comp range of Student Supports in the county. Dr. Barker earned her bachelors french,n english and and completed a master of arts degree from West Virginia university in secondary education. Dr. Barker received a doctoral degree in leadership studies at marshall university. Ms. Joy hofmeister did i get right . , she hasing Office Released a more userfriendly system and bolstered student onety, with an emphasis ensuring children have access to opportunities to achieve. Cademic success she has revamped teacher evaluation and brought attention to the need for trauma informed instructional practices that meet children where they are. Leastnally, but not the jackson has been immersed in cps her entire life as a former student, teacher, principal, chief education officer, and now as a parent to cps students. As ceo of the Third Largest School District in the country, dr. Jackson is focused on improving excellence in all cps schools. Of efforts, along with those chicagos dedicated teachers and principals, have propelled cps to record breaking academic thes, and experts across country regard chicago as a National Leader in urban education. She has a masters degree and a doctorate in urban School Leadership from the university of chicago. Welcome, all of you. We appreciate all of the witnesses for being here today, and look forward to your testimony. Remind the witnesses that we have read your written statements, and they will appear in full in the hearing records. Anduant to Committee Rules practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a five minute summary of your written statement. Let me remind the witnesses that in pursuance of the u. S. Code, section 1001, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully falsify congresspresented to or otherwise cover up any material fact. Before you begin your testimony, please remove her to press the button on the microphone. We ourselves forget doing that once in a while. Light begin to speak, the mik in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, the light signal youellow to have one minute remaining. We will let the entire panel make their presentations before we move to member questions. When answering a question, please remember to once again turn your microphone on. Dr. Ll first recognize nadine burke harris. You have five minutes. Dr. Harris good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to participate in this hearing. A robust body of literature demonstrates that Adverse Childhood Experiences are highly prevalent, strongly associated with poor childhood and adult health, Mental Health, behavioral and social outcomes, and demonstrate a pattern of high rates of intergenerational transmission. High levels of adversity without the buffering partitions of a trusted caregiver and safe, stable environments lead to overactivity of the biological stress response and changes in brain structure and function, how genes are read, the functioning of the immune and inflammatory systems, and changes in growth and development. These changes are what comprise what is now known as the toxic stress response. Of American Adults have ,xperienced at least one a. C. E. And 51 have experienced four or more. Those with four or more face double the risk of seven out of 10 of the leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The original cdc research was done in a population that was 70 caucasian, 70 collegeeducated. Sociodemographic or Geographic Group that is spared. The higher the score, the more likely an individual is to also ,truggle with depression, ptsd sleep and eating disorders, and Substance Abuse. A National Study of more than 35,000 adults found that even after adjusting for the impact of sociodemographics and they are use, independently associated with as much as four times the risk of incarceration. Similarly, research has indicated that a common factor among individuals emitting Mass Shootings is a history of multiple aces. Mong the most notable effects are the effects on behavior. As likelyhree times to repeat a grade. Clear. Ence is Adverse Childhood Experiences are a Public Health crisis that require coordinated cross sector response. Scientific consensus supports two core principles. One, Early Detection and Early Intervention improves outcomes, safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are healing. Schools and our educators are a critical part of an ecological and Public Health response to toxic stress. Trauma informed practices at schools involved ensuring that all personnel are trained to understand that disruptive behaviors may be possible symptoms of toxic stress, and respond with compassionate care. In addition, trauma informed training and practices and policies include establishing systems that enable safety, including predicable routines and social interactions, a calm physical environment, transparent and printable rules, having clear, nonpunitive consequences for violating rules , teaching social and emotional skills, participatory decisionmaking by students in school policies, and explicit family and community involvement, including support for families managing stress. Restorative disciplinary practices and programs to prevent retrauma does a to prevent retraumatization should be the norm. They can align with the six pillars of mitigating toxic stress is allowed of mitigating toxic stress physiology. Addition, prevention of vicarious traumatization and supports for educator wellbeing are essential elements for trauma informed educational environments. Important elements also include workforce training, dissemination of best practices, data reporting, and rigorous evaluation. As noted by authors in a recent commentary in the journal of pediatrics, both the World Health Organization and the centers for Disease Control and prevention recognized that schools are not only places to transmit academic knowledge, but also a place for Vulnerable Children to connect with supportive adults and peers outside of their families. Supportive relationships with students, teachers, and coaches have been shown to protect against depression, Substance Abuse, and to promote academic success. The opportunity ahead of us is about the true intersection of health care and education. Thank you for this opportunity to share this science, and i urge you to use this information to inform your actions on behalf of the american people. Chair sablan thank, dr. Burke harris. I would like to now recognize dr. Barker for five minutes, please. Dr. Barker good morning. I work in one of the poorest districts in the United States, according to the 2019 data. We face the highest rates of children living in poverty and children in kinship care or living with grandparents. These numbers, alongside mounting overdose rates, brief the perfect storm of issues that impeach his wellbeing and academic achievement. We face the challenges brought to us by generational poverty, ranging from kinship care issues to generational trauma our families face. The schools see adverse effect in behavior and academics. Students whose main focus is on survival and managing use the capacity on mental stress in their lives. They need to think about their physical and Emotional Health needs. Stability and social structures acclimate in our students lives, and that is why schools face increasingly challenging behaviors and have to use a variety of resources to provide Continuous Learning opportunities for all students, hence the influence of trauma influenced practices and Health Supports in our schools. Focus on trauma influenced learning is immediate and complex. They come to us with several a. C. E. Scores. Many of our kids with abuse, parent drug overdose, and violence early on. School can help provide protective factors such as strengthening social connections , providing concrete support in a time of need, and helping children develop social and emotional cognizance. Wait for somebody else to come and help our families and children, or we can do something now while we have our kids in our schools. We choose the latter. The school staff cannot do the job alone. Are applying a new strategy to leverage and coordinate resources with school and permuted to school and Community Providers to help our kids. It curates Collaborative Partnerships with various Community Organizations to meet the unique needs of a child, including family and kinship supports. Building and maintaining 70 partnerships requires a manytime maintaining so partnerships requires a Fulltime Position to do this. The south side k8 district has been using these for several years, and now we see we can keep our teachers, instead of having 40 owner over every year instead of having 40 turnover every year. We have a stable environment and great culture in the school. As a district, we have an emphasis on securing Collaborative Partnership on the district level because they are so remote, and he schools frequently dont have the opportunities to get the partnerships themselves, but funding for all these positions, for all these positions is a challenge for all counties. Therefore, increases to the funding formula for education like title i, as well as title iv, is needed. When faced with choices to meet these students needs, we should not have to choose between public students learn and nurses and social workers. Become hubs of community, and have to meet the needs of the whole child. Engaging in a piecemeal approach, having to choose between funding academics or emotional support. These practices can break a generational cycle of poverty and trauma in our students lives, because their parents often cope with that trauma themselves and did not help our students as much as they could. Thank you so much for your time to listen to my statement. Chair sablan thank you very much, dr. Barker. S. Hofmeisterze m for five minutes, please. Morning,ister good members of the committee. My name is joy hofmeister. I was elected state superintendent of public instruction in 2014 by the good people of oklahoma, and reelected in 2018. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the effects of childhood trauma on student academic performance antisocial and emotion performance and the social, emotional growth of our students. Make standards, national comparability, accountability, and more. These improvements cannot remedy every challenge. There are, of course, the stark realities of poverty, childhood hunger, domestic strife, and more. The world outside the classroom has an undeniable impact on the world inside the classroom. A recent National Survey of Childrens Health reports that oklahomas youngest children suffer more trauma than those in any other state. Oklahoma ranks 42nd in the nation in child wellbeing. 75 of our students suffer moderate or serious depression. A growing number admit to a low commitment to school and a high risk for drug abuse. Bearing this in mind, how can we equip teachers to move students toward resilience and a Bright Future . We believe the key is trauma sensitive instruction. Recent work on the science of hope makes clear that the connection with a stable, caring adult is a common factor in moving our children from trauma to hope. 2018 and february 2019, through grant assistance, title iv funding, and community and agency partners, the Oklahoma State department of education held two statewide trauma summits. Both were heavily attended. Next february we will hold another for all educators in the state, with approximately 42,000 Classroom Teachers we expect to 10,000, providing increased support to address the invocations of trauma among our youth is a priority at our state agency. The agency provides professional Development Opportunities for educators to better understand the connection between trauma, the science of the brain, and the negative impact on student performance. A moretion, we began cross Agency Collaboration to address trauma and its connectedness to student academic performance, chronic absenteeism, and behavior. Our office of Student Support provides onsite intervention and professional development to schools and districts. Consistsast spring, it of directors of social counseling, academic counseling, prevention services, college and career readiness, workbased learning, family and community engagement, and suicide prevention. We will soon add a specialist voted to bullying prevention and a statewide Crisis Response team. Since july, our Student Support team has provided Educational Opportunities and classroom interventions for more than 4000 oklahoma educators. Through our work toward college and career readiness, a new focus on individual career wedemic planning, or icap, are learning that students who intentionally plan for their future are more hopeful and resilient. The results can mitigate the negative implications of trauma. ,cap is required statewide beginning this school year. Already, students in our pilot study telus that their friends are coming to school more pilot study tell us that their friends are coming to school more and are more optimistic about life after high school. Through heightened trauma awareness, we see rich learning environments and increased trust and support between teachers and students. Trauma informed instruction is working. One teacher said, after intending trauma informed instruction professional development, our school brought back strategies and started implement them in a few classrooms, and noticed that student discipline referrals went to zero. We are already seeing the change in our student behaviors and test scores. Such results are hardly surprising when we ask students what they need from their teachers. The message is consistent. Get to know us. Connect with us. Care about us as people. When we empower teachers with evidencebased strategies and greater awareness of trauma, we allow them to harness their creativity to develop positive connections with students. In closing, the trauma expert trauma isvine said, a fact of life. It doesnt have to be a life sentence. We believe we can move our children from trauma to hope. Chair sablan thank you very much. Now i would like to recognize dr. Jackson for five minutes, please. Dr. Jackson good morning, members of the committee. My name is janice jackson. I am the chief executive officer for chicago Public Schools, which is the Third Largest School District in our nation. I am grateful for this invitation today to talk about one of the greatest challenges we face in chicago. May of our students are growing up in communities that struggle under the weight of poverty, and have been significantly impacted by violence. The purpose of my testimony today is to explain how exposure traumaence can create for chicagos children. And more importantly, to share the steps cps is taking to combat the damaging effects of trauma. First, i would like to tell you about two students that live in a world where trust is scarce and anger is overly abundant. He described their communities and their own words as places where no one can be trusted. For these children, navigating violence and poverty is a way of life. This can mean that they are exposed to gun violence, gang activity, Substance Abuse, incarceration of a loved one, and loss of loved ones. Because of that, they are far more likely than their peers to experience multiple traumas during their formative years. This repeated exposure to trauma can have farreaching effects on youth. Like teachers all over the country, chicago educators also feel the pain and uncertainty alongside the students they serve every day. This is referred to as secondary trauma. For both students and teachers, trauma becomes a form of toxic stress in their brains when it is left untreated. For students, it can lead to behavior problems, poor Mental Health, drug and alcohol abuse, and unhealthy sexual behavior, not to mention constant struggles in the classroom. Children exposed to this type of trauma are at risk for lower grades, poor attendance, behavior issues, and increased likelihood of dropping out of school. Could easily fate have befallen rodney and kim, but thanks to one of the many programs cps and the city of chicago has invested income of the situation is changing. This summer, cps and the city launched a first of its kind program called summer for change, targeting students exactly like the ones mentioned before. Students from underserved urban communities who are at risk for being impacted by violence. Youth this program, 430 dissipated in enrichment opportunities and were given access to mentoring and trauma informed therapy that they need. It gave these students access to something they were missing, caring and trustworthy adults who they. Could open up to not one of the 400 who they could open up to. Not one of the 430 students was a victim of violence this summer. We also saw an overall reduction of almost 50 in gun Violence Victimization among students enrolled in our alternative School Systems during the summer of 2018. We hope the summer for change program and programs just like it contribute to this type of success, and that we can continue to provide students in chicago with safe haven to avoid some of the outcomes we discussed earlier. Summer for change is one of many initiatives cps has launched around social Emotional Learning. Others include restorative discipline practices that are moving us away from suspensions and expulsions and toward uncovering the root cause of negative behavior, while keeping kids in school, where they belong. This has resulted in a sharp decline in out of School Suspension and expulsions, and has led to the lowest ever dropout rate in our districts history our districts history. Supports ourntion students in coping with anxiety to depression, and managing their emotions, taking response ability for their choices. This helps them ensure they are prepared for success after high school. One other example i would like to share, for a student who will who i will call cara, she has grown out without a mother grown up without a mother and any other adult in her life. Join as recruited to structured psychotherapy for adolescents responding to chronic stress program, and things have started to turn around. She is learning to talk through her emotions and make better decisions, and this is helping her develop the coping skills necessary to better manage her stress. Chicago has been fortunate to receive federal grant support to manage the needs of children exposed to trauma. The impact of this funding is significant, particularly as our students continue coping with the stress of poverty and violence. To keep this vitally important work going, cps and other districts around the country need support. There is a serious need for increased federal funding to combat the effects of trauma on our youth. Only when our countrys leaders unite behind this cause can the range of quality Treatment Services for these students begin to fully meet their needs and put them on the road to recovery in a productive life. I thank you for listening to my testimony and your time, and look forward to your questions. Chair sablan thank you very much, dr. Jackson. [indiscernible] will Committee Rule 8a, we not question witnesses under the five minute rule. As chair, i have decided to go at the end, so i will yield to the next Senior Member on the majority side, who will be followed by the Ranking Member. Start. S thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to all of our witnesses today. I am so grateful we are talking about this. I am also a pediatrician, so i come at this with a little different perspective, and ive been thinking about how we can really address this. Are a particularly difficult problem because so many adverse childhood events happen at home. When a patient comes into the office, we try to partner to make things better, but when there is so much dysfunction at , that makes it much harder to solve in the exam room. So a lot of it really ends up being left to the schools, which is the other safe place for kids. I have a couple of questions. One is for you, dr. Jackson, about the difference between expulsion suspension, and how that contrasts with now. I wanted to first talk with you, dr. Burke harris, about what we can do to help these families and catch things upstream. In Washington State, theres a couple really exemplary programs that meet families where they are, so it addresses these exact situations to help them build their Childrens Health. One is the positive parenting program. It aims to assist parents in preventing a lot of the serious behavioral and emotional problems we are seeing in kids. The other is the Guiding Good Choices Program that helps parents of kids nine to 14yearold who are entering a turbulent period to make good choices through adolescence. s positive outcomes include leavening home placements of children, academic success is outstanding, and taxpayer savings of about 1400 per discipline. The Guiding Good Choices Program demonstrates increases in the number of positive interactions between parents and children, lower rates of Substance Abuse, lower rates of delinquency, and effects that last even 40 years out. I want to ask if there are some other programs you really like and would recommend, and maybe even add what some of the challenges are for resources in rural communities. Dr. Burke harris thank you. When we are that talking about addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences, we have to break the intergenerational cycle. Kids who have a. C. E. s have parents who have a. C. E. s. In california, we are in permitting screening for children and adults, and responding with Trauma Informed Care. Allocated 40as million to reimburse providers for doing that, and 60 million over three years to train providers on how to do that and how to respond to Trauma Informed Care. Ensuring that adults also have access to Mental Health services and supports for vulnerable families under stress, it has to be a two generation approach. Rep. Schrier thank you very much. Are there particular programs i should look to bring home to my state of washington . I love that you are implementing the screening program. Dr. Burke harris one program i also recommend is child parent psychotherapy, a clinical intervention that ive used in my clinical practice. Focusedas any trauma therapy that can be used for kids and adults. Rep. Schrier great. Thank you. Dr. Jackson, i wondered if you could paint a picture for my colleagues about what it would look like traditionally, if you had a child that was misbehaving so much in school that they would be sent home, of course, where there is drugs or neglect or a sick parent, or whatever else, versus how you handle that in a school focused on trauma informed behavioral modification. In chicago Public Schools, we first started by looking at policies that led to not only outrageous numbers of students being suspended and expelled from school, but the disparity between africanAmerican Students and their peers. Makeanged the policy to teachers, principals, and administrators have to go deeper to identify the root cause, and also show an effort to address those root causes through other practices, such as restorative justice, in some cases giving students access to Mental Health professionals, either in the school or outside in the community. What this has resulted in, unlike some of the skepticism we heard in the beginning, is fewer students being suspended and expelled from school, higher attendance rates, which also had a direct impact on student achievement, which has been addressed here today. I am happy to say that weve been engaged in this work for six or seven years now, and now we have the data to show that when we invest in our students and look underneath to figure out what is going on and provide them with the trusted adult or individual, we can really change the pathway, so i would recommend to those folks listening to thing about the policies first, and make sure there is investment in training for the educators working with students every single day so they can implement them with fidelity and care for student. Rep. Schrier thank you. Chair sablan thank you very ier. , dr. Schr i will recognize now mr. Thompson of pennsylvania. Rep. Thompson thank you so much. Thank you for hosting this critical hearing topic that is extremely important. Trauma is such a Destructive Force from so many different perspectives of how it impacts a human being, when it comes to impacting our children, who quite frankly have may be not developed the resiliency, the skills to be able to prevent the real Destructive Force of trauma longterm. I want to thank each of the members of this panel for bringing your professional expertise, your passion. It is very obvious to me from what ive heard and read in his hearing today. Thank you for bringing your best too. Ices, ive already heard a lot of information that gives me hope. The fact is, i love that it was framed the science of hope. That really is what you all are all about. It is about building and establishing resiliency with our kids. It is sad what they have to experience. I would argue theres so many different forms of trauma, what has really made it present in every School District and school in the nation is the number one Public Health crisis in our lifetime, which has been Substance Abuse. The trauma, the loss of loved ones, what that does. So thank you for being here and sharing. Hofmeister, mentioned the importance of professional developments and teacher preparation programs focusing on trauma informed instruction. Can you provide some specific examples of what this look like . Ms. Hofmeister yes. It is based on the science of hope. At then hellman university of oklahoma has done many studies based on this. Wework on professional devout we work on professional development that is about building and fostering trust and respect between the student and the teacher, between families and the school. When we give our teachers more information to better understand behavior, recognizing that all behavior has a meaning, sometimes i think teachers have viewed the behavior as Something Else when it could be an expression of trauma. Having new eyes to see that instead of a child that is sleeping at the back of the classroom in middle school, and a teacher might ask, may be in the past, what is wrong with that get . We want to ask, what happened . What can we do to give them confidence and build that relationship . Strong, kids have that strengthened relationship with their teachers, they are going to be able to be more engaged, one caringve that adult that they know is paramount beyond moving towards that is paramount for moving beyond trauma and towards hope. Rep. Thompson a method that i use here, root cause analysis, finding out what is at the root cause of behavior you are seeing versus just condemning the behavior. I am heartened by the fact that ive heard that this committee, working in a bipartisan way, in past congresses, we have authorized programs. Ive heard those mentioned a few times, how theyve been helpful. I think it is obviously more left to be done. Of mentioned a few examples how this helped your students. Can you discuss that in more detail for us . Specifically, what impacts has this had on students, both in performance outcomes and their overall classroom experience . Ms. Hofmeister what we are seeing is that our students are more engaged. We know that Student Engagement is key for academic success. This is something, of course, that starts with teachers, but we also know that there is collective impact when there is in that Relationship Community that is created in a classroom, that starts with teachers engaging students. It can be as simple as the difference when a teacher greets children at the door, knows their name, is there to support them as people, not just teaching a subject. Our students tell us this makes all the difference in the world. One of our students on the Student Advisory Council at the state level told us that she accidentally got in a classroom that did not have an interest for her and was a mistake on the schedule, but the teacher was so engaging and cared and communicated that care about her as an individual that it was something she actually stayed in, didnt change, and it helped her at a time in her life when she needed an adult who would be there for her. This is something teachers can do. Teachers can foster hope, and that builds resiliency. Without hope, we do not have that ability to bounce back. Rep. Thompson thank you. Thank you, chairman. Chair sablan thank you, mr. Thompson. We alternate sides in questioning, so i would like to now recognize the chairman of the full committee, mr. Scott of virginia, for hive minutes. Rep. Scott thank you, mr. Chairman. I went to thank all of our witnesses for your testimony. Dr. Harris, you mentioned that Early Detection could help outcomes. When you have students showing a. C. E. s, whate do you do . Nurturingharris relationships are absolutely critical. The opportunity in trauma informed educational systems is for every adult in that childs education environment to be a dose of a buffering relationship, if you will. In clinical practice, what we nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, and healthy relationships are the clinical pillars for addressing a toxic stress physiology, and that is both healthimproved and also Mental Health and behavioral outcomes. Rep. Scott thank you. , if a child is subject to trauma, does it have an effect on achievement . How do you measure that . On jackson i had the mic the alltime. Thank you for that question the whole time. Thank you for that question. I think that a few things weve been able to measure after changing policies around keeping students in school and reducing the amount of time they are excluded from school is that we were able to see the correlation between increases in student attendance, access to Health Care Professionals in the school and outside the school, resulting in students achieving higher on standardized tests they were taking. We have also been able to look at graduation rates, where we experienced about a 20 increase in the past eight years. Much of that can be attributed to the changes that weve made around addressing the root cause analysis of what is going on with our students and making sure that we are intervening early and appropriately to keep them on track for schooling. I think some of the other ways we try to measure this is that, in chicago Public Schools, we have a Safe School Certification , which is a deep analysis of the practices, as well as the data in schools where we look at the amount of times students have been suspended, access to resources that we have, and also the intervention and supports that theyve received at three different tiered levels. Because that information is tracked and made publicly available, teachers are able to see that and determinations about schools. It has really incentivized educators within those buildings to really make sure theyve organized their schools to be safe and supportive environments for students. Just to give you a quick data point, since weve instituted the safe and Supportive School strategy five years ago, we went from having 1 3 of our schools receiving the seal of approval on that certification to now having close to 75 of our schools meet that. Our goal is obviously 100 , but that is already dramatic progress in a fiveyear period. Rep. Scott rep. Scott that is what happens if you rep. Scott that is what happens if you intervene. What happens if you do not intervene and a child is subject to a trauma . Dr. Jackson students that have been exposed are more likely to repeat the behavior that they have either experienced or been exposed to. One of the things we have also focused on, in addition to gun violence and the effect of at some is also looking of the challenges that many of our lgbtq students experience. Many of them have a higher likelihood of being exposed to traumatic incidents in their lives, so that has become a bigger priority in cps. But we tend to see if this is untreated is students drop out of school. Students are at a higher risk for unproductive behaviors. They are also at a higher risk for suicide and some other things that can be really traumatic. One of our goals is to really intervene as soon as possible to try to reverse some of those negative outcomes. Rep. Scott very quickly, can you tell me the importance of title iv a Student Support services . Dr. Jackson we talked a lot about this today. Projects like the project prevention funding and others that the district has been able to apply for really provide us with additional funding and support, or could provide us with additional funding and support, so that this is sustained. We now know better, so it is incumbent upon us to do better, and i think our educators need training and support in order to do this. Once we get to a place where weve really reached a utopia, if you will, we will be providing support for the educators that work with our students as well. I talked a little bit about secondary trauma earlier, and i really want to lift that up. We have a Teacher Shortage in the country, and we know that that is even greater in some of our more challenging schools, where there is a higher rate of students who have experienced traumatic episodes and incidents. If we do not adequately train the teachers who work with them every day, we will continue to see turnover and continued to see these cycles persist. Chair sablan dr. Jackson timothy give very much. Thank you come up dr. Jackson, thank you very much. Mr. Scott, thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ms. Hofmeister, it is often the case that children struggling with trauma do not communicate with teachers the stress and other trauma related problems they face. What have you found to be common indicators of a child struggling with trauma or Traumatic Stress . Ms. Hofmeister often, a child who appears disengaged, as i mentioned earlier, does have a story behind that. That is something that, as teachers begin to foster the connection, they begin to understand a little more deeply it is occurring. That could be an older sibling that is in middle school that is taking care of the younger children, who got them to school on time. There could be barriers that occur that we can see as we dive a little deeper about those who are chronically absent. So it is incumbent upon us to meet our kids where they are, and to look for ways to remove barriers, first identify those, and remove them so our students are able to be successful. I think we focused a lot in the last number of years on student achievement, and we have set a high bar for student achievement, but we also have not had the expansive conversation we are having now about all aspects of the student, thinking about the whole child, and that is something that we are doing differently. Those types of indications that a student is having struggles can look different for every child. We need teachers and educators and School Leaders and School Board Members to have new eyes, a new lens to view the students they are serving, and then act on evidence to create Trauma Sensitive School policy. Rep. Timmons thank you. You talk about removing barriers to getting children help. What can be done to encourage kids to actively seek help . Ms. Hofmeister i think it is about being sensitive to where our kids are. It cannot different in different settings. I am thinking of an example just at the start of the school year. You have tornado drills. I was reaching out, and one of my School Superintendents mentioned how they had, and l reno, a very significant they reno, a very significant tornado in may. An example of what we can do is what they did. It was a trauma informed policy. They had the new eyes to see kids that were going to go through that tornado drill, 15 of them that were very impacted by that event. They had a caring Adult Holding their hand through that entire exercise. They were there for them through the rest of the day. It is a small thing, but it made a great difference in those childrens lives, and it also allowed them to at least stay as focused as possible on learning that day. But the superintendent told me learning was not taking place for them that day. It brings back triggers. As we think about those triggers, we cant make assumptions about what those will be. Students who have endured abuse at home or have witnessed violence in the home oklahoma has a high level of incarcerated men and women, in fact, the largest incarcerated population in the world per capita in our state, and this is something that impacts families, and many of our children have a high of Adverse Childhood Experiences. So having eyes to see the child where they are and be willing to more of a use blanket, cookiecutter approach to trauma is the call. We want to simply to build a relationship, and it unfolds from there. Rep. Timmons thank you. What role does the family play in this process . Ms. Hofmeister a significant role. We believe that Strong Families make Strong Communities and make Strong Schools. We want to strengthen families, and we also, ads educators, want to reach out to families to meet them where they are. We want to find ways to include had where perhaps they also a negative experience with school and dont want to come to school. They dont want to be as engaged as we know that they need to be, and that it will benefit their children. So we will meet them where they are anymore welcoming way, intentionally welcoming of our families, and finding new ways to do that. When youre homeless, when youre a mother who is homeless school, andld in youre moving from district to ,istrict or school to school the trauma means that you have to be more fleeing, for example. We still have to have a way to connect, and those are some examples. Rep. Timmons thank you for your testimony. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Chair sablan i will now recognize ms. Hayes for five minutes. Rep. Hayes good morning, and thank you for being here for this very important hearing. I taught in and now represent a Congressional District that has been defined by tragedy. Newtown sandy hook is in my district. We trained all of our social on Early Childhood. All teachers and faculty members went through professional development on emotional and social learning. One of the presenters told us as a group that our children were scoring just as high as veterans on the trauma scale. I know personally that once educators begin to see children through a trauma informed lens, they can shift from blaming them for the behavior to beginning to understand the root causes of those behaviors. What i want to talk about today is the fact that trauma extends the on the point of impact. Grief counseling happens the day after something happens at a school, but the grief resulting from those tragedies extends into our communities, and i see that everyday in connecticut 5. This spring, one of the parents of the children at sandy hook tragically took his own life. Are ask you, if the adults still struggling, imagine what children are going through. We recently did a study in connecticut, and the results were astonishing. 90 of kindergartners reported experiencing a. C. E. Events, but only 23 were currently displaying symptoms. What this tells us is that 60 of students that 67 of students are experiencing a. C. E. s that are unidentified and untreated, allowing them to worsen over time. So i cringe to think that these children are comingofage and have all of these experiences that they do not know how to address. Mr. Chair, i wouldve to introduce this testimony that i just cited into the record. Thank you. My question today, i have two questions. , whatfor dr. Burke harris can we do post trauma for families to make sure they have the support that they need two years, five years down the road, especially in communities that have polarizing and targeted issues we can identify . I think the one thing we can all agree on is that it is not the childrens fault, the families that they come from. My next question is for dr. Jackson. What do you think the impact of secondary trauma is on the educators who have to come a year after year, stand in front of children . Often time we think of the events i just described, children with prolonged trauma as a result of their daily and direction, and teachers who see this year after year. It is kind of hard to feed hope into someone when you are just repeating the cycle every single year. Dr. Burke harris . Dr. Burke harris thank you. Those are excellent questions. I think there are a couple of critical pieces. Number one, a recognition that trauma and our communities is so common that a true Public Health approach involves universal precautions. This is why Trauma Informed Care in our educational system is so critical because we have to be providing these supports and services repeatedly as part of our way of doing business in education in order to respond to the endemic levels of trauma we are seeing. Another piece is the role of screening and partnership, cross sector partnerships. Prominence of trauma is so high, i hear teachers, doctors, Law Enforcement saying, what can we do . How can we be part of the solution . When each of us takes our little piece, there is a tremendous amount we can do to support resilience and buffering across our communities, and increasing that cumulative dose of buffering, making sure that every adult in the environment understands not only how they are managing their own history of adversity, because as you mentioned, it is not just vicarious trauma for educators rep. Hayes im sorry, but i expirelet my time without speaking about what happens to teachers. Dr. Burke harris absolutely. We see depression as a result of some of the things theyve been able to hear , not only because the stories are so challenging, but because, in some cases, it is a feeling of hopelessness. When we dont have the resources, but we dont have a place to point students and families to, when they have the courage to share with us what is going on, teachers feel hopeless in that regard, and that can contribute to some of the depression and things that have been reported. Rep. Hayes thank you. Mr. Chair, with that, i yield back. Chair sablan thank you, ms. Hayes. At this time, i am going to recognize the ranking number of the full committee, dr. Fox, for five minutes, please. Rep. Foxx thank you. I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Ms. Hofmeister, you discussed the states conducting cross Agency Collaboration to help address the needs of students experiencing trauma. Can you please explain in more depth what this collaboration it is ake, and why critical component in helping these students . Ms. Hofmeister thank you very much. Yes, this is essential. We are working in oklahoma in the department of education to work with our partners in the department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse services. With that work, for example, we have more of our students prevent in the Needs Assessment survey. Just for the last reported school year that we have data from, we had 47,940 students 8, andipate in grades 6, 12. From that, we were able to learn a lot about the evidence that they are providing us with input , and then develop strategies to meet needs. As we have partnerships, it goes beyond just one or two agencies. Actually, it is acrosstheboard. We are working with the to parmenter corrections. With the department of corrections. I want to see those parents engaged that are able to be engaged in the lives of their children, even through something unique with parent conferences virtually where that is appropriate. We are grappling with health issues, and we are working with other entities within the state to work with dhs and the Health Department to work on battling the physical aspects of health as well, so it is paramount. Rep. Foxx you mentioned in response to representative questions about the family that you have the largest per capita incarceration rate in oklahoma in the country. I would assume from that that there are a lot of singleparent families in oklahoma. Have you done anything to look at the impact of singleparent families on what is happening with students and how to deal with that as trauma . Ms. Hofmeister yes, thank you for that question. What we know on the a. C. E. Index, having divorced within the family impacts children as an Adverse Childhood Experience, so it does contribute. In oklahoma, we have among states a leading divorce rate as well. We also have come a because of the high incarceration rate, many children we also have, because of the high incarceration rate, many children in foster care. All of that said, it is about strengthening families. We see in oklahoma they need for loving family members, parents, grandparents, extended family. And where we dont have that, we see in to bridge that gap for students. Work as wet of this think about trauma informed practices and community. Thank you. In your testimony, 75 of your students suffer from moderate to severe depression. That is a staggering number. Is the work you are doing informed instruction develop for this issue and how much does the data about Student Needs drive the development of the Instruction Program . Ms. Hofmeister thank you again. This is the Needs Assessment where we did receive that compelling information from students. We also know it doesnt have to simply be a program about Mental Health. We see crossover impact with our Career Pathway work and postsecondary planning with the individual career academic planning, which is now a requirement for actuation. Sixth, seventh, eighth grade. Our students tell us, those students who engaged in this have purpose. Beyondeness of a future the tassel and graduation. That it is about something more. Teachers who now arent just delivering tests at the end of a course, but looking beyond that at the student and their strengths. This has had an impact on hope and on traumainformed practice that was unexpected and we are studying with our researchers. Rep. Foxx thank you. I yield back. I will be more strict on time because we have more members in line for questioning. Mr. Uld like to recognize moral for five minutes. Im really sorry. Shalala. Thank you. Madam Surgeon General last year which iished a report, will submit for the record, following an investigation of immigrant children in Detention Centers will stop the report outlined how the child separation policy makes worse the trauma that immigrant children have already experienced on their journey to this country. They found separated children exhibited higher separation anxiety, fear of abandonment, and postTraumatic Stress disorder than children who had not been separated from their parents. The report said, some separated children expressed acute grief that cause them to cry inconsolably. Many of these children will eventually attend our schools when released from custody. Some of them will stay in Detention Centers, in which for example in the homestead facility, which had over 1000 children, the teachers had no training in trauma. Could you tell us what the science says about the effect of separating Young Children from their parents and placing them in inadequate conditions . Unequivocalce is both that this is a harmful practice and increases childrens physical health risks as well as their mental, psychological, and developmental risks. Rep. Shalala thank you. Perhaps the executive director from chicago could comment because you have had a lot of immigrant children come through who are in your School System on your own experience with these children who have been separated from their families for some time. I would extend some of the comments that dr. Burke harris made. Of students a lot who emigrate from the United States to the United States and set up a home in chicago. We do our best to support their students when they disclose their status. With that comes Additional Resources and support. Particularly navigating the school process and making sure they dont have barriers to enrollment also working with students, making sure that there is stability in their home life and they have access to resources, or know how to access those resources should they need them. I would count this as an area where we could be doing more. Earlier there was a comment about our students and their families, and how they feel or trust the School System or any government agent the. I think the more we show an awareness around the need to support our students and families they will disclose to theheir status and ask for support, thereby making it easier for us to identify students who may have experienced trauma. They would disclose that so we could support them. I see a huge disconnect, if you will, because many families, in particular our immigrant or undocumented families, dont trust Government Agencies enough to disclose their status. Ms. Hofmeister, what is your advice in the large facilities we have Holding Children separated from their parents . We have not invested in training teachers working with those children. What advice would you give to us toinsisting if we are going hold unaccompanied children that we ought to be training the teachers . Ms. Hofmeister we definitely agree that our teachers need and want professional development support. Students of all kinds of trauma are arriving at our school doors and coming from the school bus. Teachers are telling us that morewant more specifics, practical advice as well. It is something we are addressing, again, with a state level trauma summit coming up because the demand has been so great. It is called bridges to hope teaching in the shadow of trauma. Trauma is trauma. We open our arms wide in Public School to any student who walks through the door, and we are 4 thatur title 2 and are afforded to us and we are grateful for that. Rep. Shalala i yield back. Shalala. You, dr. Recognize mr. Grothman. Want to comment on representative shalalas comments. We were told in may alone that 15,000 children came into this country unaccompanied by their parents. I think we should all agree that it is better for children to be with their parents. Apparently under american law we have to accept most of these children or try to find foster care. I would be happy to work with thesend make sure that a, children are not allowed in this country and send back to their country of origin to be reunited with their parents. Even when children come with a parent, it is frequently one parent and the other parent is back in Central America or whatever. I know this bothers some of the courts in Central America. In our courts if parents are separated we try to keep them in the same area as the children. If a parent shows up with children in the country but the other parent remains in another country, to send those people immediately back to their country of origin so the children can be with both parents. The point is, if they are being incarcerated by us in a facility and we are offering educational services, whatever services we are offering is theothman that problem. We have too many people that dont want to address hofmeister, just because of these statistics, you are telling us 75 of the children in oklahoma suffer moderate to serious depression . If i look at a class of 28, 21 are suffering from depression . Are you sure that is right . 21 out of 28 if i look at a classroom in oklahoma . Ms. Hofmeister that is what the data tells us. 47,000 900 ed rep. Grothman that is okd. I just find that hard to believe. I wasnt aware you had so many immigrants injured chicago schools. How many come with immigrant children, how many with both parents, how many with one parent, and how many with no parents . I dont have that information and i dont want to make up numbers. Rep. Grothman that is very relevant. Can you get that information for us . Ms. Jackson we dont collect that information as a School District. We have removed every barrier for students to enroll. That isnt information we collect. Rep. Grothman you dont know, say johnny breaks his arm, if no parents art home, one parent is at home, or two parents are at home . Ms. Jackson we know for each student the guardian of record. We dont know initially a students status. We dont ask them when they enroll in school in chicago. Our doors are open to all students. Rep. Grothman that is not the point. I am stunned. It seems to me of something horrible happens, a Health Crisis or whatever crisis, the parents should know. Mom and dad should know. If one parent is there, they should know. If no parent, a guardian or foster parent, they should know. Ms. Jackson we have the information for the guardian of record. Rep. Grothman you cant tell us the percentage of immigrants in chicago who have a guardian and not a parent of the people who came here of different citizenship . Ms. Jackson no, sir. As stated earlier that is not information we collect. Rep. Grothman next question. I will follow up on congressman comments. You have statistics you break down by race as far as people getting in trouble in school or being removed. Do you suggest that for, again have had ahome, we dramatic change in the last 50 years in this country. Y less children raised with both parents at home. Know in thatents i situation are doing a great job, but overall it might be better sometimes, both parents there. Well youre how theents are doing with situation at home . Ms. Jackson no. We have whether or not the student is special needs or not. We dont desegregate the data based on family status. Mr. Grothman that stuns me. That is something we can change peoples behavior on. You cant change your race or other things. I hate to interrupt, but i said i was going to be strict. Thank you. Morelle. Morelle thank you. I think this is an important topic. I think i will dispense with it in talk about my district rochester, new york. Rochester has in the last several years been identified as or three inr two terms of childhood poverty in the United States among cities. It is something distressing, the impacts of poverty. I have been working on initiatives i will touch on briefly. In the context of some of the work i have been doing around poverty, several years ago i would admit to the fact that i thought when people would talk about trauma that it was generally regarded as physical kinds of trauma, domestic violence, gangrelated violence, neighborhood violence, and it has become clear to me, i have become sensitized to the fact that it is housing and food and securities. Things you dont necessarily see easily. That has led me to lead an effort in rochester with significant state and philanthropic support to not only have traumainformed care in our community, but to do it in an interdisciplinary way. Having the medical community, pediatricians, and Nurse Practitioners he trauma, educators see trauma. We are trying to break down the silos between education, health, and Human Services so that the professionals can speak to one another and identify trauma. That is something i am very engaged in and optimistic about. I wanted to ask a couple of questions. I think you have done a great job identifying the impacts of trauma on development and future success in life for children. I think you have talked a great deal about the types of things you are doing. One thing i would like to ask you to talk a little more detail about, and perhaps i will. Tart with dr. Burke harris you talk about screening. What does the research tell you about how to identify trauma in children . I am sure there are screening questions that you can ask. Theyre are probably obvious questions about children who are somerawn, but i suspect children carry impacts of trauma that are harder to see. I wonder what research tells you and what you are doing to try to become more sensitive to traumas that dont have an easily outward identifiable manifestation, if that is a fair question. Im curious what the research tells you and what youre doing is innovation around that. Right. Ke harris you are some students will display behavioral or learning disabilities, but many will not. For many there is no outward sign. That is why number one, screening is so important and why california has moved towards universal screening for children and adults. Rep. Morelle can you talk about what the screening consists of . I hate to be granule, but try to get at that. Dr. Burke harris the screening consists of the 10 criteria in the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire, which dont include poverty or Community Violence. Although, the screening we are using in california, the pediatric adverse and related life events includes other social determinants of health, like food insecurity, housing and security, et cetera. That is being used for kids, and the traditional childhood experiences for adults. Rep. Morelle when youre looking at food insecurity, is it done through an interview with the child or data from other sources that you integrate . How do you get to that . Dr. Burke harris the screening is done in the primary care home. Its a questionnaire that families fill out. The way we do it in california is we use a deidentified screen. It doesnt tell us which one your child has experienced, only how many. That allows the clinician rapidly and that 15 minute pediatric visit identify who needs additional services. They can receive that service from a social worker. Rep. Morelle you find that the inpondents feel stigmatized some way about being truthful about the environment their child is living in . Is there an embarrassment . Is it easier to get to that . Dr. Burke harris we find the de identified screen makes it easier with higher disclosure rates. Rep. Morelle im out of time. I appreciate it. Taylor i recognize mr. For five minutes. Yield twor i will minutes to my colleague from rochester. I think he is asking good questions. Rep. Morelle thank you. Quite the gentleman. Ability to drill down and identify is partly self identification by a parent or guardian. Is there verification that you do . I know that this is really identifyingbut things that are hard to identify . Dr. Burke harris we have primary care providers that see medicaid patients. For them to identify rapidly in primary care, that is why we use screen. Dentified when that screen shows that a family needs more services for , they areeason referred to someone who can do an identified screen. It is a twostep process. That allows us to more thoroughly identified. Rep. Morelle that is primarily through the health side . Dr. Burke harris yes, on the health side through the primary care provider. Rep. Morelle do you match that with anything out of the classroom . One or two risk factors on the social side to one or two on the health side, to one or two in the school. Can you aggregate that data and get a profile . We would not have thought that child was suffering from trauma, but may be looking at one piece or dimension, when we combine this there is a troubling pattern that shows us we should do x . Dr. Burke harris those are the systems we hope to put in place and i hope to lead in my role as the Surgeon General of california. Rep. Morelle i dont know if anyone else had comment about aggregating information, but if i might continue to borrow my time from mr. Taylor very kind. I did have two minutes. Mr. Taelors indulgence and the panelists. Do we have physical data on the sources . What are the sources . It is childhood abuse, neglect, and other forms of child malpractice. Those could be when we are thinking strictly about aces, Adverse Childhood Experiences, those are different events. Divorce of a parent, incarcerated parent. Rep. Taylor we have percentages . Ms. Hofmeister oklahoma leads the nation with ace scores of two or higher. In our this is also, we feel it isls, most important to be able to focus on learning, but we cant learn until we have some of that connection and other areas addressed. But we also know that it is a heavy burden for teachers, and that is not something we are asking to burden teachers more and more with new mandates or additional programs necessarily. Instead, we would like to see an awareness created, Practical Applications of traumasensitive instruction that could be as simple as telling a child what to do instead of what not to do. Cortisol rushing over the brain that is in constant fight or flight mode is not going to know what to do when you say stop, quit, dont. Instead, a teacher can say it is time to open our book or it is time to walk in the hall. Those are practical examples of tools that teachers can use, and they dont have to use the child history to do that. Rep. Taylor speaking of history, what protections have you put in place in terms of privacy . Clearly, there are things we have to think about. Privacy is important to all of us. How do you think about privacy, knowing about the trauma, who do you tell, how do you keep privacy . Ms. Hofmeister privacy is very important and thank you for bringing that up. That is outside the scope of what we focus on in our Public School now. Our teachers, with a new awareness, are able to make connections regardless of the details that might have occurred. Important first step. There is a program being used between Law Enforcement and schools called handle with care. Our Law Enforcement in the home and notice a child is there have connected with the school and let them know, handle this child with care. Rep. Taylor i yield back, mr. Chairman. I would now like to recognize miss davis for five. Rep. Davis thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you all of you. It is a politically well informed and inspirational panel. We have been talking about sources of trauma for students. You mentioned abuse and neglect. One issue that hasnt come up is gun violence and the impact that students. It is not the only source of trauma, but it is one of the sources. I know we had a hearing hayes askedd ms. Secretary devos about using federal money to arm teachers. She stated that she lacked the authority, secretary devos, detail schools they cannot use federal funding to arm teachers to tell schools they cannot use federal funding to arm teachers. Im wondering where you come in, if you believe, maybe a show of believe, maybe a show of hands, if you think Arming Teachers is part of the solution to addressing gun violence in schools . Anybody feel that it is part of the solution to addressing gun violence in schools . Speakfmeister i can only to oklahoma, and that is not something we have had requested of the state department of education. This is a conversation for the federal and state level. Recordvis just so the shows no one raised their hands. If you feel that gun reform can be part of the solution to reducing trauma, and how do you think that might be . For many students, even the active lockdown drills can be traumatic for them. We know the homicide rate in our country for 15 to 24yearolds are 49 times higher than other high income countries. How can we move some of those and somethingeing that is helpful in schools . Ms. Hofmeister i think some of what we are talking about is also meeting the needs of students early, and how that is when that is unaddressed there are serious complications and issues that arise. Our focus in oklahoma is meeting our kids where they are early. We believe that is the best use of our funds, and preparing teachers through training. That is the key. Rep. Davis i dont know if anyone else wants to comment. I have a question that speaks to the need for us to be more responsive to teachers. Dr. Jackson . I think common sense gun reform is really important. Often it is a manifestation of things that have gone unnoticed or missed by things that could be better addressed with policies in schools. One other thing i would like to add is what we do in cpss we take seriously any threats of violence in that we work directly with the families. We have taken an approach where even if it is something such as a student making a threat online, we address that. We dont go in with a Law Enforcement mentality initially. I know that some other cities and schools have taken that approach. Instead, to get to the real issue. Why would a student post this information . Except in ae find, few rare occasions when it is just a prank, is that there is something that needs to be addressed. We spend time connecting them with resources and following that student and keeping track of if they are getting the resources they need. Do they still have these ideas . I think that is one of the proud we have been pretty is not the right word, but we feel good that we have a Good Practice to address these issues. That is always in the back of everyones mind that something could happen. Rep. Davis i want to address one of thekly issues is around oklahoma on teachers can carry a weapon. For the record i want to again mention that. Secondary trauma and compassion on the part of teachers. Having put in language in title 2 for social and Emotional Learning and being able to get grants to teach that, what would it look like if we really did support teachers in this effort and we acknowledged it does make a difference for them . It is a reason a number teachers leave school. What can we do that addresses that . I am going to interrupt and ask you to please respond to her in writing. Thank you. I would like to recognize the Ranking Member mr. Allen for five minutes. Thank you. We know family is one of the seven cultural pillars and our country. The family has been under severe attack. In the 1950s 93 of households, both parents were there for the children. Today it is less than 60 . Hofmeister, i know we have done a lot of studying trying to come to grips with what is the real problem here. As we doing anything as far reaching these young people to change this cycle . If this cycle continues, how does it get better . Have you got anything to offer with regard to that, or are we just trying to fix what problem we have and that we are ignoring the real cure here . Ms. Hofmeister in Public Schools we are there to serve children who come with a variety of backgrounds. Our educators are there to address their academic needs. We recognize we are not able to work on those without first building that connection and rapport and trust with the student. Getting to know families and reaching out to families, all families, is important. This is what builds a Strong School and a strong community. Our approach is different now back. T perhaps was years we are needing to be more creative in how we make those connections. We also recognize it is important to have school , academic in place counseling as well as those who can provide crisis counseling, or refer students and families to support through other community resources. Rep. Allen do have the flexibility . Teachers,n i talk to they are pretty limited in some regards legally what they can do and what they can share with their students about their life iseriences, which i think one reason we are losing teachers. Like they are just being observed and criticized at every step, yet it sounds like they are actually becoming the family unit. Ms. Hofmeister this is very true. We actually know that in oklahoma we are looking to teachers often to be kinship beingent family for those placed in foster care. Rep. Allen are there limits to what a teacher can share with the student in oklahoma . Ms. Hofmeister certainly there would be some limits, i suppose, that would im not sure exactly how to answer that. I would say that we just want our teachers to feel supported so they can support our students. Having more of our student counselors is beyond the service to students. It is to coach teachers to provide the kind of training that many of us at the table are talking about now, perhaps. In the classroom setting, classroom management is what we call this, when you are building that. Rep. Allen are you able to talk about the family and the importance of the family unit, the design of the family, and those sorts of things . Are teachers allowed to do that . Ms. Hofmeister in Public School we support families. That is paramount. Our agency of the state department of oklahoma recognizing that Family Engagement is key to success for families. We are making that a priority and focus. Rep. Allen when these students leave school, what is their feeling towards the family . Do they realize that the cure is for us to not have children before we get married. We get married, we have children, and we raise those children with a set of values that will give them the freedom to do the things that i was able to do because i had an amazing family. Understand what really has to change there . May i addn something . I think what is critical is reducing stigma, blame, and shame. That is critical for healing and recognition for families understanding how the experience that parents had, perhaps their own adversity can be handed down and recognizing the key of safe and stable relationship. Rep. Allen i yelled back. I would like to recognize for bonamici. Es ns v ms. Schoolbased Health Clinics come yes or no . Yes all around. Paid family leave . Yes all around. Affordable childcare. Asneed to look at prevention to how we address the serious issue. Thank you for your testimony. I thought it was very enlightening. We know a growing awareness of the profound effects of aces. Some of them have been mentioned. Representative shall avail a talked about the parents of immigrant children. When i talk to kids, they are afraid to go to school because they dont know if their parents are going to be home when they get back. Concern. A young woman who is a high School Student said to me at a town hall meeting that the first thing she does when she walks into a classroom is to figure out where she can hide or escape. You understand why these children are going through so much trauma with gun violence, immigrant families. Thank you, dr. Burke harris, about talking about trying to get rid of the stigma. We want to make sure everyone gets the help they need. Dr. Jackson, you mentioned the lgbtq students who are already facing discrimination and often higher suicide rates and the inability to do well in school if they are facing that pressure. We know schools in oregon and across the country are doing what they can to support these students, but they need extra resources. Several you mentioned the enrichment program, title 4a, every Student Succeeds act. I have been a leader on getting that fully funded. Make sure the students have the resources to support the students. Dr. Burke harris, 2018 a report that children of color are disproportionately represented among children who have experienced trauma. 60 1 of africanamerican children, 51 of latino children have experienced at least one experience. Did this ratio and historical trauma and early adversity affect these marginalized students, particularly africanamerican and native American Students . Although harris discrimination is not one of the traditional childhood adverse experiences, accumulative this given nation leads to the toxic stress response which causes the harm. Experiences of discrimination based on race, national origin, or other forms of discrimination add to the accumulative adversity and put those individuals at greater risk of health and Mental Health and behavioral social risks. Rep. Bonamici the evidence suggests that the Opioid Crisis is creating new challenges in protecting Vulnerable Children. Congress passed the support for patients and communities act to address the Opioid Crisis. The bill included 50 Million Dollars to support traumainformed practices in schools. That program has not yet been funded, but what would you do with funding to scale traumainformed practices in your School District specifically in regard to the Opioid Crisis . Dr. Jackson these resources would make a significant difference in chicago will stop i know often when we talk about the opioid addiction we focus on other areas, but this is something we struggle with in the city as well. One thing we would do is to expand the work and our parent universities. We do have engagement with many parents through a Parent University structure. With Additional Support being able to train them, and in some cases direct them to other resources to break the cycle, would be helpful. More awareness and language to address those issues and reducing barriers to getting support. Rep. Bonamici do you have any recovery high schools . Portland is getting ready to open a recovery high school. Dr. Jackson we dont. We have prioritized Health Clinics in some schools who support,hat but we dont yet have a recovery high school. Rep. Bonamici one quick that was important to me, there was a student who used to go to school with his hood up on his hoodie. His teachers would tell him to put that down and sit up. When they allowed him to keep it up, he did well in school. Thank you, mr. Chairman. It would be lovely if everyone had a perfect family. I dont think there is a definition of a perfect family. My own family of origin was flawed, and my current family with two children in their 20s who are doing fairly well is also flawed. I am distressed by some of the comments we have heard today that seem to lay all of this at and factof the family that there may be a number of children going to School Without families. I dont think anyone disagrees about the effects of aces. That is what i am hearing from all of you. It appears two things are important. First is awareness, and you are helping us with that and i really appreciate it. We all do. We all need to understand and know more about it. The second most obvious elephant in the room is the funding for these programs. That includes supporting teachers who have been put in the unfortunate position of having to become counselors and pastors in addition to what they win in the teaching for what they went into teaching for, which is educating students. The issue of secondary trauma is important. On that funding issue, it seems clear to me that we have a lot of work to do to convince our colleagues across the aisle that there is a demand and need for federal funding to support these kinds of programs. Ask that in mind, i would to ask a couple of questions about why everyone should care about providing additional federal funding for this issue. We know that there are distressed School Districts all over the country. My district, the seventh district of pennsylvania, we have one severely distressed district. Districty, in that 3000 puerto rican families came into the allentown School District following hurricane maria. I might point out they are citizens. They are not immigrants, but it has very much contributed to the issues faced by that distressed School District that has trouble even affording textbooks and supplies. We obviously have to do a job of convincing. But i would like to know, and let me address this to you first dr. Jackson, what federal programs or federal funding are most important to supporting andols in creating sustaining traumainformed care . Dr. Jackson funding to support programs like i talked about earlier. The program that allows us to work directly with students and families doing psychotherapy. These are powerful, impactful programs. They are also expensive and many School Districts cant afford this at scale. I would also say programming for trauma informed practices, to train all of the teachers as well as other professionals in the district, is something that is extremely helpful and can be impactful. Again, one of those things we find trouble finding the support. To i can go down the list, but im sure my colleagues on the panel would like to get theirs in as well. Rep. Wild i wanted to ask you, dr. Burke harris, about the issue of children in the United States getting the Mental Health and Treatment Services they need. How can we in congress and the federal government better support children who are experiencing aces . Dr. Burke harris i think it is critical for us i think the screening pieces critical. Early detection improves outcome. The second piece is support for the responses, including Mental Health care, traumainformed educational systems, and another a publicpiece is Education Campaign to raise Awareness Among families and everyday americans. Rep. Wild i am struck by a quote that i read from dr. Robert bloch, former president of the American Academy of pediatrics, who has been quoted as saying Adverse Childhood Experiences are the single greatest unaddressed Public Health threat facing our nation today. You made reference to that. Aces dont just happen in low income neighborhoods. The original study was done in a neighborhood 70 caucasian and 70 collegeeducated, all thatll class adults will stop when we are looking at two thirds of americans experiencing aces, we are seeing we cant afford not to do Early Detection and intervention. You get no argument from me. Thank you. Thank you, ms. Wild. I would like to recognize myself for five minutes. I asked to insert into the record a letter from an eighth grader whose School Campus was destroyed by a super typhoon. Having seen no objection i insert this letter for the record. That i mayuestions not be able to ask and a few that i have submitted for your answers. How has Mcdowell County schools changed procedures and practices to align with being,informed . We had to become more inclusive and create policies to work with our Mental Health providers and schoolbased Health Clinics. Sometimeslations, and those dont communicate. We had to change those policies so our Mental Health clinicians thing able to get information from teachers to help them in their therapy sessions and be able to be back with teachers and tell them not the diagnosis, but how can they help in the classrooms. We have all this therapy and work with our kids and it never translates into classroom practices. It cant be productive. , what happened at home the night before that got you a little lip set that you decided to take matters into your own hands . We are working to be more open and change our privacy confidentiality practices to make sure that we are communicating among the lines to help our kids. Del. Sablan good i say then that teachers and could i say then that teachers and staff have to think differently because of changes in policy, procedures, and practice . Dr. Barker yes. We are using a lot of professional development. We have trained our Service Personnel in Mental Health. It is recognizing signs and symptoms of certain behaviors will stop to be able to communicate. Also traumainformed we are providing training. Giving them scenarios. Heres johnny. He does not bring homework to you. Here are the two scenarios. The teacher yells at you because johnny, you did it do you work and he explodes. Or the teacher talks to johnny individually, what happened to you before . Looking at different scenarios, how should you be reacting . We are working with teachers to help them understand not everyone grew up with two parents at home. Place for homework at home kids are different, and we should treat them as they are. Del. Sablan let me now turn to dr. Burke harris. Changenmade climate driving more severe weather, such as hurricanes, typhoons, and fires that have devastated communities, homes, and schools, this committee has heard testimony that students are experiencing postTraumatic Stress disorder. What recommendations do you have for schools post Natural Disasters in caring for their students . You have a minute and a half. Dr. Jackson i would say dr. Burke harris i would say to reiterate how important it is for all individuals in the educational environment to receive professional education and training about how to respond to a traumatic situation was that whether that trauma is the result of a Natural Disaster or the result of Community Violence or violence or trauma happening at home. The fundamentals of the response shows us in making difference in improvement of outcome is safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Ensuring all folks in the educational environment have that training. More than just the knowledge, a set of tools and skills they can apply in the educational environment to support children. Del. Sablan thank you. I am going to cut my 30 minutes. I will have records i mean, questions submitted of you. You will have time to respond. I remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee Practice materials for submission for the hearing must be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following the last day of the hearing, preferably in microsoft word format. They must address the subject matter of the hearing. Only a member of the committee or an invited witness may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record. Documents are limited to 50 pages each. Pagesnts longer than 50 will be incorporated in the record via a link you must provide to the Committee Clerk within the required timeframe. Recognize that years from now they may no longer work. Like tojection, i would enter into the record the 1998 original adverse childhood responded by the centers for Disease Control and prevention and kaiser permanente. Of Government Accountability office regarding the approaches and challenges of supporting children affected by trauma. The report by the National Trauma and stress network on creating, supporting, and sustaining traumainformed schools. The article written by researchers at Washington State university and the connection between Adverse Childhood Experience and Elementary School children. An article by rand on evidencebased practices effective by schools to support children affected by trauma. I want to go through the list. Article on the impact of gun violence on children and teens. A fact sheet of 10 things to know about trauma and learning for excellence in education. A policy statement by the American Academy of pediatrics on the impact of racism and child and adolescent health. The civil rights principles helping Inclusive School climates from the leadership conference. And five letters for the record from the American Federation of teachers, being Hampton University schools, National Indian educational association, National Association of school psychologists, and National Association in support of traumainformed practices in schools. I want to thank the witnesses for their participation. What we have heard is very valuable. Members of the committee may have some additional questions, like i said, and we ask the witnesses to please respond in writing. The record will be held open for 14 days to receive those responses. I remind my colleagues that the first one to submit questions for the hearing record must be submitted to the Majority Committee staff or Committee Clerk within seven days. Questions must address the subject matter of the hearing. I recognize the Ranking Member for his closing statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank the witnesses for coming today. I want to clarify that we are not talking about stigma or shaming. Im talking about the importance of faith and family in this culture. As we said, we made it clear that trauma has a detrimental impact on student lives will stop we have heard statistics about children suffering as a result of trauma. Numbers we at the are talking about. Line is each one of those numbers is a child. A child that needs to be helped and given the attention they need to succeed in life. Shared ms. Hofmeister interesting information about projects she has undertaken in her state to help students. One reason i ran for congress is an experience i had in my district. I supported a school there. I actually built the school. It is a great example of what it takes in children who have experienced trauma to transform their lives. I was proud to be a part of a local movement in augusta, georgia which created the Heritage Academy. The Heritage Academy is a missionbased school that serves Innercity School kids that have been labeled losers in the public School System. Oms had no choice but to send these children to heritage school. Byy had been given up on everybody but their mom. One of the key elements of this school is children are given a faithbased education. They come from broken homes, and through education they learn their value and were taught by loving teachers who are free to share their value so the students can learn the truth about what is right and what is wrong. These kids grow up to go to the best schools in georgia and this nation. I have never seen anything like it. It is a complete miracle. Heritage academy is one of the many reasons i think families need options in education. Options that help them connect with individuals that will care about them and help trauma not be a life sentence. It is not for everybody, but there are young people who need this. Considering what we have learned about trauma, i believe this even more so. I did share earlier about this book, death on hold. This gentleman experienced everything you described today. His life would be the capital t in trauma. He was on death row. This man made a covenant with god that if god would let him live that he would make a difference. I ask you to read this book. Aboutl tell you a lot what is going on in this culture, and what he says needs to be done to turn around. He made a covenant to do that. I encourage you to do that. Life without parole. I will do everything i can to get him pardoned, talking to young people about his experiences and the consequences of those experiences. He is an amazing individual. Thank you for being here and helping us learn more about this issue. I yield back. You mr. Allenhank. I recognize myself or closing statements. Thank you for our distinguished witnesses for being with us. The insights you shared today makes it clear that childhood trauma is a pervasive Public Health crisis that demands our attention. Far too many children suffer from trauma that prevents them from healthy growth and success in school. Without adequate care these childhood victims of trauma can become lifelong victims. When a child struggling with toxic stress, many schools many schools resort to discipline that fails to address the students trauma, but can elevate it. Even schools that understand the care needed for traumatized children lack the resources and assistance to offer adequate student services. That is why Congress Must invest in traumainformed School Practices to make sure students can look to their schools for support, not harm. I would like to reiterate again that our students trauma can be prevented if we are able to recognize and address the root causes. If we can come together to stop the School Shootings and the separation of families at the border and address the widespread poverty we can care for victims of trauma and prevent children from becoming trauma victims in the first place. So that we can ensure all children have a chance of reaching their full potential. Thank you to all of you. Thank you mr. Allen for being with us today. If there is no further business, without objection the committee stands adjourned. Thank you. Coming up in an hour susan wild discusses her push for Mental Health care legislation. In the wake of her partners suicide earlier this year. Ted huffs that the ceo of the Climate Leadership Council backed by major oil and Power Companies discusses his organizations support for carbon support for a carbon tax. Host it is the washington journal for september 12. In an hour, the House Judiciary Committee will work on on theshing procedures hearing for the Trump Administration. You can see that process play out on cspan 3 starting at 8 00. House democrats are undertaking dozens of investigations of the Trump Administration on many fronts and in this first hour, we want to hear your reaction to the number of investigations on what you think about them. If you think there are too many of these investigations going on, 2027488000 is the number to call and tell us