Back then, the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition was formed to explore the idea that exposure to trauma impacts children’s mental health, physical health and coping ability. If left untreated, trauma after trauma in a child’s life builds upon each other, Cicchetti said.

Children’s interactions with health care, school discipline and the justice system often stem from a trauma, or behavior that’s been conditioned by exposure to previous trauma, she said, but too often the system doesn’t recognize that.

"If a kid gets in trouble in the child welfare system, they’ll be labeled as reactive or ‘hard to place.’ And if they get to the Department of Juvenile Justice, we just look at their behavior and call them bad kids," Cicchetti said.

The Healing-Centered Task Force, created by an Illinois Senate bill passed into law in 2023, aims to bring community stakeholders to coordinate projects, while identifying the impact of intergenerational trauma and developing preventative solutions, the task force said in a press release.

It is also meant to move policymakers toward applying trauma-informed principles to laws, it said.

“By working with advocates and experts in trauma-informed strategies, we are identifying ways that policy can make a positive impact on our most vulnerable communities,” Stratton said.

"It’s my life’s work," Cicchetti said, and it is gratifying to see "legislative leaders use the language of trauma care."

“The focus will be creating policies and practices that aim to prevent exposure to these experiences, address disparities of exposure and promote healing across the developmental lifespan," she said. "This innovative approach will further Illinois’ reputation as a role model nationally for developing and adopting best practices to promote collective care and thriving communities.”

One task force participant, the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Aunt Martha’s, is already using trauma-informed care on the most severe cases of behavioral health conditions in the state’s child welfare system.

The Integrated Care Center at the organization works with about 30 of the "most acute childhood cases" that the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services cares for, said Raul Garza, president and chief executive officer of Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness Center.

The network of 26 clinics is the only FQHC in the state to contract with DCFS on a medically led program for youths in the child welfare system, he said.

The Integrated Care Center treats children’s conditions holistically, integrating specialist care and primary care, instead of the uncoordinated, episodic treatment children often experience, Garza said.

Garza points out that it is vital to incorporate primary care services and specialist services, particularly because trauma doesn’t just affect the mind — it damages physical well-being, too.

“Childhood trauma is linked to obesity, diabetes and other physical issues," he said. "But so often those things are ignored."

Garza said that through the integrated care program, young patients have had a reduction in regression, fewer hospitalizations and a reduction in runaways.

The task force’s work of bringing stakeholders like mental and physical health care providers, schools, social services and juvenile justice will better allow all those taking care of children to understand what’s been done for a child, Garza said.

"Sometimes we can compliment it, sometimes we have to undo it," he said. "We can’t come at it with one approach."