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Regular Session, 2014
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 44
BY SENATOR DORSEY-COLOMB
PUBLIC HEALTH. Directs the Department of Health and Hospitals to declare youth
violence a public health epidemic and the Department of Education to establish a statewide
trauma-informed education program.
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON1
To direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to declare youth violence a public health2
epidemic and the Department of Education to establish a statewide trauma-informed3
education program. 4
WHEREAS, youth across Louisiana are committing acts of violence against one5
another and throughout their communities; and6
WHEREAS, a national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention7
(CDC) found that adults in the United States reported approximately one million five8
hundred sixty thousand incidents of victimization by perpetrators estimated to be between9
twelve and twenty years of age; and10
WHEREAS, the CDC reports that many people survive violence and are left with11
permanent physical and emotional scars, and that violence erodes communities by reducing12
productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services; and13
WHEREAS, a national initiative lead by the CDC, Striving to Reduce Youth Violence14
Everywhere (STRYVE), assists communities in applying a public health perspective to15
preventing youth violence; and16
WHEREAS, in 1985, then United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared17
violence to be a public health issue and called for the application of the science of public18 SCR NO. 44
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health to address treatment and prevention of violence; and1
WHEREAS, in 2000, then United States Surgeon General David Satcher declared2
youth violence a public health epidemic; and3
WHEREAS, Dr. Satcher released a report declaring youth violence a threat to public4
health and calling for federal, state, local and private entities to invest in research on youth5
violence and for the use of the knowledge gained to inform intervention programs; and6
WHEREAS, the report states that the public health approach to youth violence7
involves identifying risk and protective factors, determining how they work, making the8
public aware of these findings and designing programs to prevent or stop the violence; and9
WHEREAS, the 2000 public health report calls for national resolve to confront the10
problem of youth violence systematically; to facilitate entry of youth into effective11
intervention programs rather than incarceration; to improve public awareness of effective12
interventions; to convene youth, families, researchers and public and private organizations13
for periodic youth violence summits; to develop new collaborative multidisciplinary14
partnerships; and to hold periodic, highly visible national summits; and15
WHEREAS, an individual's characteristics, experiences and environmental16
conditions during childhood and adolescence are indicators of future violent behavior; and17
WHEREAS, ages fifteen through eighteen, the ages that students spend in high18
school, are the peak years of youth violence; and19
WHEREAS, there is great concern over high school dropout rates, poor academic20
performance and violence in schools across this state; and21
WHEREAS, the Yale University School of Medicine, Child Study Center, Comer22
School Development Program (SDP) is an operating system comprised of three teams: the23
school planning and management team, the student and staff support team, and the parent24
team, which work together to create a comprehensive school plan, to design and conduct25
staff development aligned with the goals of the comprehensive school plan, and to assess and26
modify the plan as necessary using a wide range of student and school-level data to ensure27
that the school is continuously improving.28
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby29
direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to declare youth violence a public health30 SCR NO. 44
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epidemic and the Department of Education to establish a statewide trauma-informed1
education program.2
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the3
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals and the superintendent of the4
Department of Education.5
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Christopher D. Adams.
DIGEST
Dorsey-Colomb SCR No. 44
Directs the Department of Health and Hospitals to declare youth violence a public health
epidemic and the Department of Education to establish a statewide trauma-informed
education program.