Campaign Updates: COVID and the CARES Act

When the National Trauma Campaign launched in February, there was an enormous need for trauma-informed and resilience-focused policies and practices to be implemented around the country. The coronavirus pandemic is contributing to the already dire need for this change we set out to make.

The National Trauma Campaign Core Team has developed toolkits and resources to continue to grow our efforts during this time. We invite you to check out our COVID-19 Action Toolkit and COVID-19 Resources to support COVID-specific advocacy and tools to use during this time.

Though Congressional support for the CARES Act outpaced Campaign efforts in March 2020, the network effectively mobilized around leveraging some of the designated CARES Act funds to be used in states to respond to the widespread adversity and stress experienced from the pandemic. We have been advocating for CARES Act dollars to be spent in states to develop/bolster trauma-informed programs, with the greatest opportunity currently being in the education system due to the more than $3 billion allocated to states through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. 

We–the members of the Campaign Core Team–cannot capture in words how grateful we are for the incredible advocacy efforts Campaign network members are making. All of this matters toward the progress we’re seeing as trauma and resilience become concepts more Congresspeople are considering. Wonderful work!

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