Senator Patty Murray (above) is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. Her office issued the following last week.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 10, 2013
CONTACT: Murray Press Office
(202) 224-2834
Murray Mental Health
Bill Clears Committee Hurdle
In wake
of recent tragedies, Murray provision in mental health package provides support
for children and families affected by trauma
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
Today, legislation authored by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) to provide
increased support for children and families affected by trauma, passed through
the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee as part of a
larger package addressing mental health awareness and
improvement. Sen. Murray’s Children’s Trauma Recovery Act includes a
reauthorization and updates to the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative
(NCTSI), which works with children and families who are exposed to a wide range
of traumatic experiences including physical and sexual abuse; domestic, school,
and community violence; natural disasters, terrorism, or military family
challenges; severe bereavement and loss; and life-threatening injury and
illness.
“As we have
unfortunately witnessed too often in recent years, trauma involving children can
happen at any time and in all parts of our country. The Children’s Trauma Recovery Act ensures
the providers have the proper tools available to not only serve their day-to-day
needs in treating child trauma, but also maintain absolute preparedness in the
event of a national tragedy. Additionally, this bill supports the National Child
Traumatic Stress Initiative in its mission to raise the standard of care
and increase access to evidence-based and trauma-informed practices in all
child-serving systems.” said Senator Murray. “I applaud
Chairman Harkin’s hard work in putting this comprehensive package together, so
we can all work to ease the burden on our children and their families as they
face very difficult times.”
NCTSI currently supports a national network
of child trauma centers in forty-four states, including seventy-nine university,
hospital, and community-based funded centers and ninety affiliate members. In
addition to supporting everyday child trauma work, this network also mobilizes
in response to national crises such as the shooting in Newtown, CT and
Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina.
Specifically, the Children’s Recovery from
Trauma Act authorizes the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) to:
·
Support a national collaborative network of
child trauma centers, including: grants for university and hospital child
trauma centers which are involved with intervention development and
dissemination of evidence-based practices; grants for diverse
community-based organizations which are involved with providing services to
children and families affected by trauma; and a grant for the NCTSI
coordinating center to organize the collaboration, training, and dissemination
activities of all funded and Affiliate NCTSI members to maintain the NCTSI
network and outreach infrastructure;
·
Support the analysis and
reporting of the child outcome and other data collected by the NCTSI
coordinating center to establish the effectiveness, implementation, and clinical
utility of evidence-based treatment and services;
·
Support the continuum of
interprofessional training initiatives in evidence-based and trauma-informed
treatments, interventions, and practices offered to providers in all
child-serving systems;
·
Support the collaboration of NCTSI, HHS, and
other federal agencies in the dissemination of NCTSI evidence-based and
trauma-informed interventions, treatments, products, and other resources to all
child-serving systems and policymakers.
The following groups
have endorsed the Children's Trauma Recovery Act of 2013: American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological Association, Futures
Without Violence, National Children's Alliance, National Federation of Families
for Children's Mental Health, Prevent Child Abuse America, Mental Health
America, uFOSTERsuccess, American Art Therapy Association, American Association
on Health and Disability, American Dance Therapy Association, American Group
Psychotherapy Association, American Orthopsychiatric Association, American
Psychiatric Association, Anxiety and Depression Association of America,
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, National Alliance to Advance Adolescent
Health, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of State
Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), National Council for Community
Behavioral Healthcare, School Social Work Association of America, and The Trevor
Project.
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Meghan Roh
Press Secretary | New Media
Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty
Murray
Mobile: (202) 365-1235
Office: (202) 224-2834