BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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GOALS
1 / Raise Awareness
Senator Heitkamp will work to raise awareness about the impacts that Adverse Childhood Experiences have on children, such as living in poverty; experiencing emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; or facing exposure to substance abuse or mental illness.
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2 / Seek Solutions
Working with local, state, and federal leaders and professional trauma experts, Senator Heitkamp will seek federal solutions to better support populations that suffer from trauma.
3 / Create Better Future for Next Generation
Through comprehensive solutions and increased public awareness, Senator Heitkamp aims to reduce the physical and psychological scars of children who are exposed to trauma experience so they have the support and resources to grow, thrive, and succeed.
"Children exposed to traumatic events - be it abuse, violence, or disaster - may not be left with physical scars, but the wounds they endure can cause deep physical, psychological damage."
- U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp
- Dr. Tami DeCoteau, Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Bismarck
"Native Americans face huge challenges - from socioeconomic issues, to problems with education, to lack of accessible health care. I think those things, combined with historical trauma, often lead Native Americans to feel devastated and without the support that they need to overcome their difficulties."
Children who have had four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences - such as living in poverty; experiencing emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; or facing exposure to substance abuse or mental illness -
the lifetime risk of heart disease and lung cancer, and a
3x
have
20 year
difference in life expectancy.
Those exposed to six or more experiences have a 30-fold increase in attempted suicide.
Native children face crisis levels of suicide nationwide – the second leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native young people between the ages of 10 and 34.
Nationwide, 22% of Native children suffer from post-traumatic stress – the same rate as newly returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
10% of all North Dakota
children have experienced 3 or more Adverse Childhood
Experiences with economic hardship, and divorce being the most common.
EVENTS
May 25, 2016: The Science of Trauma Congressional Briefing
Hosted by U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, leading health experts gathered in Washington, D.C. to present the basic science of toxic stress, trauma and resilience, including impacts on the developing brain, effects across the lifespan, and mechanisms of inter-generational transmission.
July 14, 2016: Implementing Trauma-Informed Programs and Practices Congressional Briefing
U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp hosted leading health experts in a discussion to provide an overivew of how the science of trauma has led to effective new intervention strategies and present examples of comprehensive trauma-informed system reform efforts in Washington, D.C.
Leading a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C., U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp joined top experts, policy makers, federal agencies, and advocates to identify ways to reduce the effects of traumatic stress Native American children experience.
November 20, 2014: Roundtable Discussion on Impact of Traumatic Stress on Native American Children
August 17, 2016: U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Field Hearing in Bismarck on the Impacts of Trauma in Indian Country
U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp brought together leading advocates and key officials for the first-ever U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee field hearing in Bismarck focused on the impacts of historical trauma and mental health challenges in Indian Country.
HEITKAMP'S HISTORY
U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp continues to fight to comprehensively address chronic exposure to trauma among children, particularly in Native communities, by:
Successfully pressing federal agencies to comprehensively address trauma
Convening national experts, policymakers on ways to reduce traumatic stress
Implementing proactive measures to address, improve mental health of Native young people
Improving outcomes by addressing complex challenges faced by Native children.
Senator Heitkamp's first bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would create a Commission on Native Children uanimously passed in the U.S. Senate in June 2015 and passed in a U.S. House of Representatives committee in July 2016. The Commission would study the complex issues Native children face - including the impact of historic trauma - and make recommendations to make sure children living in Indian Country get the protections, as well as economic and education tools to thrive.
Senator Heitkamp led a bipartisan group of seven senators in December 2015 in calling for a robust, coordinated U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) effort to reduce the impact of trauma that often hinders generations of Native communities. In February 2016, HHS heeded her call, appointing a leader to address complex trauma in Native communities.
After working closely with the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General's Task Force on American Indian/Alaskan Native Children Exposed to Violence, including testifying at the Task Force's first hearing in Bismarck, the Task Force issued sweeping recommendations to improve Native children's lives - many of which Senator Heitkamp pushed for. These recommendations are a needed step to alleviate the current epidemic of violence experienced by Native children and help address impact of trauma.
In November 2014, Senator Heitkamp brought together national leaders and policymakers, as well as federal agency representatives and experts for a trauma discussion to identify ways to reduce the effects of traumatic stress Native American children experience.
Watch Senator Heitkamp's video on the need for her bill to create a Commission on Native Children and stand up for Native youth.
U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp's efforts to combat trauma and build a better future for the next generation​