Congressman visits Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center

The Visit

A chance meeting in the halls of Congress led Rep. Mark Takano to Gallaudet University on February 10, 2025. When he arrived on campus, he was greeted by a welcoming party, including President Roberta Cordano and his hosts for the day: the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center (DHHCRC).

Rep. Takano, representing the 39th District of California, is a longtime advocate for deaf and hard of hearing rights. His district in California houses the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, one of the largest Deaf schools in the country. In 2013, he co-founded the Congressional Deaf Caucus. And during his congressional career he has introduced or sponsored many pieces of legislation designed to uplift deaf and hard of hearing people.

Given his history of advocacy, the congressman’s stop at Gallaudet may have seemed unremarkable. This visit, however, was prompted by the advocacy of a Gallaudet graduate student.

The previous year, the family of Damien Marsh, ’17 & G-’24, was visiting Washington, D.C. and wanted to experience some of the local landmarks. They decided to book a tour of the United States Capitol Building through the family’s local congressional office in Riverside, California. During the tour, they were introduced to their congressional representative, Mark Takano.

At the time, Damien was in the process of getting his Master’s of Social Work from Gallaudet. He was also a Graduate Assistant at DHHCRC and a passionate advocate for the importance of mental health services for deaf children. Rep. Takano took notice. When Damien invited the congressman to Gallaudet to learn more about DHHCRC, both sides were excited to explore the possibilities.

DHHCRC

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center was founded in 2021 by Dr. Lori Day, G-’08 & PhD ’10. Frustrated with the lack of mental health intervention services available to deaf and hard of hearing children, Dr. Day decided to do something about it. After taking a chance and applying for a grant, she was awarded $2.9 million by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to create the program that became DHHCRC.

In the years since, DHHCRC has made trauma-informed care more accessible to deaf children and families. They create institutional change by training and educating mental health clinicians. To that end, they’ve adapted clinically-approved practices such as PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy) and SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) to better fit the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children.

They’ve also begun developing an invaluable library of resources for parents and service providers, including infographics on working with deaf children and informational videos in American Sign Language (ASL).

During Rep. Takano’s visit, Dr. Day and Damien and the DHHCRC staff shared their work with Rep. Takano. He listened intently, asking questions and suggesting potential avenues for partnership. The congressman was particularly interested in DHHCRC’s work with the National Childhood Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). DHHCRC has translated some of NCTSN’s most popular resources to ASL, such as a fact sheet for children and families who are coping with a violent event.

Accessible, trauma-informed information was at the top of Rep. Takano’s mind after recent wildfires in California. Emergency alerts are often inaccessible to Deaf people whose primary language is ASL. DHHCRC’s work with NCTSN could be a model for more proactive ASL messaging in the future. As they promote accessible content for parents and providers, their work will support Rep. Takano’s advocacy for change on the federal level.

DHHCRC’s focus on trauma-informed messaging also overlaps with Rep. Takano’s dedication to supporting veterans. The most common disability experienced by veterans is reduced hearing. Trauma-informed practices are critical for working with people who experience language and information deprivation, regardless of age.

Rep. Takano and the DHHCRC staff spent almost two hours talking through the collaboration possibilities. In addition to emergency information, they also covered more technical topics, such as making mental health counseling licenses more accessible, and adding ASL as a billable language support for insurance charges.

Both sides left the visit feeling optimistic and energized. Dr. Day and Damien made sure to invite Rep. Takano back for more discussion in the future. Accessible trauma-informed information is more important than ever, and Gallaudet and DHHCRC are poised to play a vital role for the Deaf and hard of hearing community.

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If you are a parent, caregiver, or service provider for Deaf and hard of hearing children, make sure to check out the DHHCRC Resources page.

Questions about DHHCRC? Want to discuss a collaboration opportunity? Visit their website.