Bill Text: CA ACR155 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Childhood brain development: adverse experiences: toxic stress.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 56-12)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 144, Statutes of 2014. [ACR155 Detail]
Download: California-2013-ACR155-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: ACR 155 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 144
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2014
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bocanegra
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Brown,
Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and Yamada)
MAY 28, 2014
Relative to childhood brain development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 155, Bocanegra. Childhood brain development: adverse
experiences: toxic stress.
This measure would urge the Governor to identify evidence-based
solutions to reduce children's exposure to adverse childhood
experiences, address the impacts of those experiences, and invest in
preventive health care and mental health and wellness interventions.
WHEREAS, Research over the last two decades in the evolving fields
of neuroscience, molecular biology, public health, genomics, and
epigenetics reveals that experiences in the first few years of life
build changes into the biology of the human body that, in turn,
influence the person's physical and mental health over his or her
lifetime; and
WHEREAS, Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic experiences
that occur during childhood, including physical, emotional or sexual
abuse, physical and emotional neglect, household dysfunction,
including substance abuse, untreated mental illness or incarceration
of a household member, domestic violence, or separation or divorce
involving household members, that can have a profound effect on a
child's developing brain and body and can result in poor health
during the person's adulthood; and
WHEREAS, The original 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences Study,
which surveyed approximately 17,000 adult Californians, found that
two-thirds of participants had at least one adverse childhood
experience and one in six participants had four or more adverse
childhood experiences; and
WHEREAS, The Adverse Childhood Experience Study also found a
strong correlation between the number of adverse childhood
experiences and a person's risk for disease and negative health
behaviors; and
WHEREAS, Researchers found that a person with four or more adverse
childhood experiences was 2.4 times more likely to have a stroke,
2.2 times more likely to have ischemic heart disease, 2 times more
likely to have chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, 1.9 times more
likely to have a type of cancer, and 1.6 times more likely to have
diabetes; and
WHEREAS, Researchers found that a person with four or more adverse
childhood experiences was 12.2 times more likely to attempt suicide,
10.3 times more likely to use injection drugs, and 7.4 times more
likely to be an alcoholic; and
WHEREAS, The life expectancy of a person with six or more adverse
childhood experiences is 20 years shorter than a person with no
adverse childhood experiences; and
WHEREAS, These early adverse experiences literally shape the
physical architecture of a child's developing brain and establish
either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all the learning, health,
and behavior that follow; and
WHEREAS, Strong, frequent, or prolonged stress in childhood caused
by adverse childhood experiences can become toxic stress, impacting
the development of a child's fundamental brain architecture and
stress response systems; and
WHEREAS, Early childhood offers a unique window of opportunity to
prevent and heal the impacts of adverse childhood experiences and
toxic stress on a child's brain and body; and
WHEREAS, A child's brain continues to develop through adolescence
and into young adulthood; and
WHEREAS, The emerging science and research on toxic stress and
adverse childhood experiences evidence a growing public health crisis
for the state with implications for the state's educational,
juvenile justice, criminal justice, and public health systems; and
WHEREAS, Adverse childhood experiences can significantly impact a
child's success in education; and
WHEREAS, The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) found
that neurobiological, epigenetics, and psychological studies have
shown that traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence can
diminish concentration, memory, and the organizational and language
abilities students need to succeed in school, thereby negatively
impacting a student's academic performance, classroom behavior, and
the ability to form relationships; and
WHEREAS, A child with four or more adverse childhood experiences
is 46 times more likely to have learning or emotional problems; and
WHEREAS, A woman with seven or more adverse childhood experiences
is 5.5 times more likely to become pregnant as a teenager; and
WHEREAS, Adverse childhood experiences can affect a child's future
contact with the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, A woman with three violent adverse childhood experiences
is 3.5 times more likely to become the victim of intimate partner
violence, while a man with three violent adverse childhood
experiences is 3.8 times more likely to perpetrate intimate partner
violence; and
WHEREAS, A critical factor in buffering children from the effects
of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences is the existence of
supportive, stable relationships between children and their
families, caregivers, and other important adults in their lives; and
WHEREAS, Positively influencing the architecture of a child's
developing brain is more effective and less costly than attempting to
correct poor learning, health, and behaviors later in life; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges the Governor to reduce
children's exposure to adverse childhood experiences, address the
impacts of those experiences, and invest in preventive health care
and mental health and wellness interventions; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Governor of California,
in doing the foregoing, to consider the principles of brain
development, the intimate connection between mental and physical
health, the concepts of toxic stress, adverse childhood experiences,
buffering relationships, and the roles of early intervention and
investment in children as important strategies; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
