Office of the City Clerk - Record #: R2017-298

• Record #: R2017-298
• Type: Resolution
• Status: Adopted
• Intro date: 4/19/2017
• Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Education and Child Development
• Final action: 5/25/2018
• Title: Call for Departments of Family and Support Services and Public Health to testify on need and ability to address violence-induced trauma experienced by children
• Sponsors: Burke, Edward M., Mitts, Emma, Brookins, Jr., Howard
• Topic: COMMITTEE/PUBLIC HEARINGS - Committee on Education and Child Development

Date	Journal Page Number	Action By	Action	Result
5/25/2018	77766	City Council	Adopted	Pass
5/14/2018		Committee on Education and Child Development	Recommended to Pass
4/19/2017	48349	City Council	Referred

Education & Child Development

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section. 6(a); and

WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare; and

WHEREAS, the City has no greater duty than to protect and ensure the well-being of our children, as Frederick Douglass once said, "It is easier to raise strong children than to repair broken men;" and

WHEREAS, the City has seen an unacceptable degree of violence in our streets and in 2017 alone, 843 shooting victims were reported by the Chicago Tribune from January 1, 2017 to April 12, 2017; and

WHEREAS, the number of shooting victims alone is staggering, it does not represent the emotional distress and trauma experienced by the friends, family members, classmates, neighbors, and teachers of the victims; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing body of research on the psycho-social effects of violence in general and the impact on children in particular; and

WHEREAS, one in three children between the ages of 15 and 17 has lost a close friend or family member to violence and nearly one in five has witnessed a murder firsthand based on a 2013 study of Chicago communities impacted by violence; and

WHEREAS, a 2015 study from the Heartland Alliance documented the significant link between poverty, violence, and trauma, reinforcing the urgency of treating trauma and explaining how untreated trauma leads to more violence and poverty; and

WHEREAS, the University of Chicago Crime Lab evaluated the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy and found a 44 percent reduction in violent crime arrests, a 36 percent reduction in vandalism, and 10 to 23 percent increase in graduation rates, supporting the idea that providing emotional support to the City's you...