HONOLULU — Senator Donovan Dela Cruz (Senate District 22 – Mililani Mauka, Waipi‘o Acres, Wheeler, Wahiawa, Whitmore Village) joined Kamehameha Schools, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and numerous community organizations to announce that Senate Bill 2482, now Act 209, was signed into law, creating the first statewide-legislated Office of Wellness & Resilience in the nation.
“Trauma is often referenced as the ‘hidden epidemic,’ and has directly contributed to the suicide, addiction, domestic abuse, mental illness and chronic health conditions,” Dela Cruz said.
“Trauma does not discriminate. It affects individuals, families and communities of all ethnicities and socio-economic statuses across our state,” he said in a statement.
“By sponsoring legislation for the Statewide Trauma Informed Task Force (Act 209) in 2021 and introducing SB2482 (Act 209) to establish the Office of Wellness & Resilience, we are committing to create a trauma-informed state that will better serve our families and improve community health and wellness outcomes. This office will ensure that every keiki, kupuna and resident of this state will have access to safe, caring individuals and vital resources to live a healthy and thriving life here in Hawai‘i.”
Trauma-informed care is an approach based on the growing knowledge of the impact of psychological trauma and how common it is in communities.
It aims to ensure a welcoming and engaging environment and services for service recipients and staff.
Examples of trauma include experiencing or observing physical, sexual and emotional abuse; neglect; having a family member with a mental-health or substance-use disorder; experiencing or witnessing violence, poverty and systemic discrimination.
Research shows that experiences in the first few years of life build change into the biology of the human body that, in turn, influence a person’s lifelong physical, mental and spiritual health. Trauma can lead to incalculable human and economic costs if not appropriately treated. Lifelong impacts include increased risks for poor physical and mental health and alcoholism and drug abuse and increased state spending across multiple programs linked to lifetime costs of approximately $200,000 per person.
“We’ve known the suffering many of us struggle with, including historical and cultural traumas, has very real effects on our health status individually and as a whole,” said Tia Roberts Hartsock, chair of the Act 209 Trauma Informed Care Task Force.
This new Office of Wellness & Resilience will:
• Identify unmet needs and challenges encountered by the departments and those they serve, related to health disparities and trauma-informed-care implementation and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Seek federal-funding solutions and evaluate state funding priorities relating to trauma and trauma-informed care;
• Establish a procurement team to streamline existing department grants and funding management related to social determinants of health and trauma-informed-care initiatives;
• Create a “social determinants of health” electronic dashboard to identify baseline needs that impede quality-of-life outcomes;
• Interact with community agencies, organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure the needs and wellness requirements of communities are met throughout the state;
• Address and implement solutions recommended by the Act 209 Trauma Informed Care Task Force.
