| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, Research-based prevention and wellness promotion | ||||||
3 | efforts that strengthen positive parenting practices and | ||||||
4 | enhance a child's resilience in the face of adversity have been | ||||||
5 | shown to have a significant impact on the child's mental and | ||||||
6 | physical health and their educational outcomes; and
| ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, The Center for Disease Control defines positive | ||||||
8 | parenting skills as good communication, appropriate | ||||||
9 | discipline, and responding to children's physical and | ||||||
10 | emotional needs; and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, Studies in the last decade point to the wisdom and | ||||||
12 | efficacy of prevention and early intervention; well-designed | ||||||
13 | programs created to promote healthy cognitive, emotional, and | ||||||
14 | social development can improve the prospects and the quality of | ||||||
15 | life of many children; and
| ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, Evidence-based parenting programs have been shown | ||||||
17 | to provide critical information on child development and | ||||||
18 | safety, promote positive parenting behaviors, teach effective | ||||||
19 | discipline strategies, alter negative family patterns, and | ||||||
20 | reduce levels of child abuse and neglect; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Positive parenting practices are directly linked |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | to adaptive behaviors in children and can buffer negative | ||||||
2 | outcomes, even among at-risk families; and
| ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, While positive parenting strategies can promote | ||||||
4 | adjustment and achievement, child abuse and neglect can | ||||||
5 | interrupt healthy development in children and lead to | ||||||
6 | maladaptive functioning; and
| ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, Child abuse and neglect is a serious public health | ||||||
8 | problem that costs the United States $103 billion annually; | ||||||
9 | these costs include $33 billion in direct costs for foster care | ||||||
10 | services, hospitalization, mental health treatment, and law | ||||||
11 | enforcement and $70 billion for indirect costs, such as loss of | ||||||
12 | productivity, chronic health problems, and special education; | ||||||
13 | and
| ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, Research shows an association between child | ||||||
15 | maltreatment and a broad range of social problems, including | ||||||
16 | substance abuse, violence, criminal behavior, teenage | ||||||
17 | pregnancy, anxiety, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, | ||||||
18 | obesity, and diabetes; and
| ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, Nobel prize-winning economist James J. Heckman | ||||||
20 | and others have shown that for every dollar devoted to the | ||||||
21 | nurturing of young children, we can mitigate the need for far | ||||||
22 | greater government spending on remedial education, teenage |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | pregnancy, and prison incarceration; and
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, By almost any statistical measure, children in the | ||||||
3 | United States today are losing ground compared to the recent | ||||||
4 | past; the educational performance of American children is lower | ||||||
5 | and does not compare well with many other developed nations; | ||||||
6 | the general health of American children has grown worse, as | ||||||
7 | shown in the incidence and increased prevalence of obesity, | ||||||
8 | juvenile diabetes, and other disorders and diseases; more | ||||||
9 | American children as exhibiting troubling and violent | ||||||
10 | behavior, resulting in increases in children being expelled | ||||||
11 | from pre-school, elementary school, and high school, and | ||||||
12 | approximately 40% of children are dropping out of high school; | ||||||
13 | children and youth homicide rates are also on the rise | ||||||
14 | throughout the nation; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, Researchers have found that, left untreated, the | ||||||
16 | effects of child abuse and neglect can profoundly influence | ||||||
17 | victims' physical and mental health, their ability to control | ||||||
18 | emotions and impulses, their achievement in school, and the | ||||||
19 | relationships they form as children and as adults; and
| ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, In the first major study of child abuse and | ||||||
21 | neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of | ||||||
22 | Sciences reported that the damaging consequences of abuse can | ||||||
23 | reshape a child's brain, resulting in consequences that last |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | throughout their lives; abuse and neglect can influence the | ||||||
2 | amygdala, the part of the brain that regulates emotions, | ||||||
3 | particularly fear and anxiety; abuse also has been shown to | ||||||
4 | change the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the part of | ||||||
5 | the brain responsible for thinking, planning, reasoning, and | ||||||
6 | decision making, which can lead to behavioral and academic | ||||||
7 | problems; and
| ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, The effects of abuse on a child's brain and | ||||||
9 | behavioral development are not static and can be reduced with | ||||||
10 | high-quality, sustained intervention; the negative changes | ||||||
11 | present in a child's brain can be countered by positive brain | ||||||
12 | changes that take place when the abuse ends and the child is | ||||||
13 | given the support he or she requires; parenting education is an | ||||||
14 | important way to address mental illness before it results in | ||||||
15 | negative outcomes for children and families; therefore, be it
| ||||||
16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
17 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
18 | we state our belief that human services, healthcare, education | ||||||
19 | and justice authorities on the federal, State, and local levels | ||||||
20 | must include parenting education and early childhood education | ||||||
21 | funding in their budgets in order to combat this growing | ||||||
22 | menace; and be it further
| ||||||
23 | RESOLVED, That we state our belief that access to |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | universal, high-quality, and research-based parenting | ||||||
2 | education will equip parents with skills that can help them to | ||||||
3 | do the most important job they will ever have: raising | ||||||
4 | confident, well-adjusted, and productive members of society; | ||||||
5 | and be it further
| ||||||
6 | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | ||||||
7 | identify potential federal grants for states that can be used | ||||||
8 | for parenting programs and early care and education programs; | ||||||
9 | and be it further | ||||||
10 | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | ||||||
11 | require early care and education programs and to require | ||||||
12 | elementary, middle, and high schools to have family engagement | ||||||
13 | policies and procedures in place that welcome and involve | ||||||
14 | families in meaningful partnerships focused on children's | ||||||
15 | learning; programs should seek to include a high-quality | ||||||
16 | parenting education component, as well as to reduce barriers to | ||||||
17 | family engagement and offer diverse opportunities and pathways | ||||||
18 | for families to be involved in programs that enable them to be | ||||||
19 | successful partners in their child's education; and be it | ||||||
20 | further | ||||||
21 | RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to | ||||||
22 | consider the potential benefits of requiring a course in | ||||||
23 | parenting education as a prerequisite for high school |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | graduation; and be it further | ||||||
2 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
3 | delivered to the State Board of Education.
|