THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY WATERS, THOMAS, V. BROWN, READSHAW, BISHOP, BUXTON, PAYTON, SANTONI, DiGIROLAMO, MANN, COHEN, CREIGHTON, DALEY, BROWNLEE, FABRIZIO, JOSEPHS, KORTZ, MAHONEY, YOUNGBLOOD, MIRABITO AND M. SMITH, APRIL 3, 2012

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, APRIL 3, 2012  

A RESOLUTION

Declaring youth violence as a public health epidemic and

supporting the establishment of Statewide trauma-informed

education.

WHEREAS, Youth across this Commonwealth are committing acts

of violence against one another and throughout their

communities; and

WHEREAS, A national survey by the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC) found that United States adults reported

approximately 1.56 million incidents of victimization by

perpetrators estimated to be between 12 and 20 years of age; and

WHEREAS, The CDC states, "Violence is a serious public health

problem in the United States. From infants to the elderly, it

affects people in all stages of life. In 2007, more than 18,000

people were victims of homicide and more than 34,000 took their

own life."; and

WHEREAS, The CDC reports that many people survive violence

and are left with permanent physical and emotional scars and

that violence erodes communities by reducing productivity,

decreasing property values and disrupting social services; and

WHEREAS, A national initiative lead by the CDC, Striving to

Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE), assists communities

in applying a public health perspective to preventing youth

violence; and

WHEREAS, In 1985, former United States Surgeon General C.

Everett Koop declared violence as a public health issue and

called for the application of the science of public health to

the treatment and prevention of violence; and

WHEREAS, In 2000, former United States Surgeon General David

Satcher declared youth violence as a public health epidemic; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Satcher released a report that deems youth

violence as a threat to public health and calls for Federal,

state, local and private entities to invest in research on youth

violence and for the use of the knowledge gained to inform

intervention programs; and

WHEREAS, The report states that the public health approach to

youth violence involves identifying risk and protective factors,

determining how they work, making the public aware of these

findings and designing programs to prevent or stop the violence;

and

WHEREAS, The 2000 public health report calls for national

resolve to confront the problem of youth violence

systematically; to facilitate entry of youth into effective

intervention programs rather than incarceration; to improve

public awareness of effective interventions; to convene youth,

families, researchers and public and private organizations for a

periodic youth violence summit; to develop new collaborative

multidisciplinary partnerships; and to hold periodic, highly

visible national summits; and

WHEREAS, An individual's characteristics, experiences and

environmental conditions during childhood and adolescence are an

indicator of future violent behavior; and

WHEREAS, Ages 15 through 18, the ages that students spend in

high school, are the peak years of offending; and

WHEREAS, There is concern about high school dropout rates,

academic performance and violence in schools across this

Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, According to the Yale School of Medicine Child Study

Center, the Comer School Development Program offers low-

achieving schools assistance in creating a conducive learning

environment while providing a solid foundation for students; and

WHEREAS, The work of the Yale School of Medicine Child Study

Center has demonstrated that, "When teachers, administrators,

parents, and/or mature adults interact with students in a

supportive school environment and/or culture, and provide

adequate instruction in a way that mediates physical, social-

interactive, psycho-emotional, moral-ethical, linguistic and

cognitive-intellectual development, acceptable academic

achievement will take place."; and

WHEREAS, The Comer School Development Program is an operating

system comprised of three teams: the School Planning and

Management Team, the Student and Staff Support Team and the

Parent Team, which work together to create a comprehensive

school plan; and

WHEREAS, The Comer School Development Program model is guided

by three principles: decision-making by consensus, no-fault

problem solving and collaboration; and

WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania State Conference of the National

Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Branches, through its Education Committee members, have given

testimony before the Education Committee of the House of

Representatives calling for attention to the impact of trauma

brought about by violence and other adverse conditions on

children's academic performance as well as their relationship

with school and the broader society; and

WHEREAS, Due to the violence epidemic, youth suffer from

either primary or secondary trauma. Primary trauma is trauma

associated with the violent death of a loved one. Secondary

trauma results from exposure to violence present within their

community; and

WHEREAS, Exposure to violence in families and communities, as

well as exposure to homicidal death, can lead to youth-specific

post-traumatic stress disorder with complex effects as well as

homicidal grief; and

WHEREAS, Trauma is not easily visible within youth because it

requires proper assessment and, due to the amount of violence

youth are currently exposed to, measures should be taken to

properly assess the issue; and

WHEREAS, The experience of trauma impacts children of all

situations and conditions across this Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, In August 2007, the CDC deemed schools as providing

"a critical opportunity for changing societal behavior because

almost the entire population is engaged in this institution for

many years, starting at an early and formative period" and

"Universal school-based violence prevention programs represent

an important means of reducing violent and aggressive behavior

in the United States."; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives declare youth

violence as a public health epidemic and support the

establishment of Statewide trauma-informed education.