BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 738 (Yee) - Sexually exploited and trafficked minors.
Amended: May 7, 2013 Policy Vote: HS 6-0, JUD 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 20, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 738 would do the following:
Expand the list of minors that may come within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile dependency court to include
victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as
specified, until January 1, 2017.
Require training for administrators of group home
facilities, licensed foster parents, and relative or
nonrelative extended family member caregivers to include
instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity relating
to, and best practices for, providing adequate care to
sexually exploited and trafficked minors in out-of-home
care.
Require the California Health and Human Services Agency
(CHHS) to convene an interagency workgroup by January 30,
2014, in consultation with the Child Welfare Council, to
develop a comprehensive state plan, as specified, to serve
and protect sexually exploited and trafficked minors. The
state plan, including implementation recommendations and a
timeline, is to be submitted to the Legislature, Governor,
and Judicial Council by January 30, 2015.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, potential minor net increase in annual child
welfare services costs (General Fund) to the extent sexually
exploited and trafficked minors are placed under the
jurisdiction of the juvenile dependency court.
One-time costs of $10,000 (General Fund) to the UC to
develop new curriculum component to the required training
program for foster care providers. Annual costs of $65,000
to provide training for this new component to foster
caregivers.
Increased costs to the CHHS in the range of $30,000
(General Fund) to lead the workgroup and prepare and submit
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the state plan by January 1, 2015.
Costs of approximately $15,000 (General Fund) per
participating department (CDE, DSS, CDCR) to engage in the
review of existing programs and services and development of
the state plan by January 2015.
Major future cost pressure to implement the recommendations
in the state plan that are to include 1) a
mutiagency-coordinated response protocol and guidelines that
address identification, screening, and assessment of
victims, 2) identification of specialized services and
programs, funding sources, and timelines, 3) training needs
of law enforcement, child welfare staff, and probation
staff, and, 4) data collection and sharing protocols among
agencies.
Background: In a comprehensive report recently released by the
California Child Welfare Council, Ending the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration
in California (2013), human trafficking, which includes
commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), is identified as a $32
billion per year worldwide industry, with current statistics
showing that human trafficking is increasingly a domestic issue.
According to Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) estimates,
100,000 children are sold for sex each year within the United
States, and as many as 300,000 children are at risk of becoming
victims of CSE. In addition, the report notes that over the past
two years, California's nine human trafficking task forces
identified 1,277 victims, 72 percent of whom were from the
United States. The report, in part, states:
"Within the United States, California has emerged as a
magnet for commercial sexual exploitation of children
(CSEC). The FBI has determined that three of the nation's
thirteen High Intensity Child Prostitution areas are
located in California: the San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and San Diego metropolitan areas. Child sex trafficking,
child pornography, and child sex tourism are all forms of
CSEC. Frequently, victims are exploited through more than
one form of abuse, and they cycle through the stages of
exploitation many times before they are able to leave
their exploitative relationships. To address this
problem, California must develop a comprehensive and
collaborative response to ensure CSE victims are
identified and receive the services they need to overcome
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trauma and live healthy, productive lives.
The children who fall prey to exploiters are frequently
those with prior involvement with the child welfare
system, such as through child abuse report investigations
and placement in foster care. Other victims should have
received child welfare services and protections but never
gained access to the system, and are instead treated like
criminals and funneled into the juvenile justice system."
The juvenile dependency court seeks to connect minor victims of
abuse with services including housing, healthcare, and mental
health support. To address the issues related to commercially
sexually exploited youth, this bill authorizes the juvenile
dependency court to exercise jurisdiction over these minors, and
requires that foster parents, group homes, and other caregivers
receive training on sensitivity and best practices related to
providing homes to sexually abused youth. This bill would also
require the CHHS and the California Child Welfare Council to
convene an interagency workgroup to coordinate and plan how to
best serve and protect sexually exploited and trafficked minors.
Proposed Law: This bill would expand the list of minors that may
come within the jurisdiction of the juvenile dependency court to
include victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as
specified, until January 1, 2017. In addition, this bill:
Requires training for administrators of group home
facilities, licensed foster parents, and relative or
nonrelative extended family member caregivers to include
instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity relating
to, and best practices for, providing adequate care to
sexually exploited and trafficked minors in out-of-home
care.
Requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to
convene an interagency workgroup by January 30, 2014, in
consultation with the Child Welfare Council, to develop a
comprehensive state plan to serve and protect sexually
exploited and trafficked minors. The workgroup is required
to:
o Conduct a thorough review of existing programs and
services for child trafficking victims to identify areas
of need, develop strategies and recommendations for
policies, interagency response protocols, and services
that will ensure that child trafficking victims have
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access to the services and supports needed for their
safety and recovery.
o Develop a comprehensive state plan to serve and
protect sexually exploited and trafficked minors,
including recommendations and a timeline for
implementation that includes:
� An evaluation of juvenile court
jurisdiction pertaining to child trafficking,
including the adequacy of existing jurisdictional
statuses, as specified.
� A multiagency-coordinated child
trafficking response protocol and guidelines for
local implementation that addresses identification,
screening, assessment, immediate and safe shelter,
and clear lines of ongoing responsibility to ensure
that child trafficking victims have access to the
necessary continuum of treatment options.
� If new specialized services and programs
are needed to ensure that child trafficking victims
have access to safe and appropriate services, the
identification of funding sources and a timeline for
the creation of those services and programs.
� The identification of training needs for
child welfare staff, law enforcement, and probation
staff on child trafficking response protocols, and a
plan and timeline to implement necessary training.
� The development of data collection and
sharing protocols among agencies.
o Requires the state plan, including implementation
recommendations and a timeline, to be submitted to the
Legislature, Governor, and Judicial Council by January
30, 2015.
Related Legislation: SB 114 (Pavley) would extend the sunset
date to January 1, 2017, for the discretionary pilot project
related to commercially sexually exploited minors established
pursuant to SB 1279 (Pavley) and extends the sunset date for the
District Attorney of Los Angeles to submit a report to the
Legislature to April 1, 2016.
Prior Legislation: AB 799 (Swanson) Chapter 51/2011 extended the
sunset date authorizing the Alameda County District Attorney to
create a pilot project, contingent upon local funding, for the
purposes of developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary model
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to address the needs and effective treatment of commercially
sexually exploited minors.
SB 1279 (Pavley) Chapter 116/2010 authorized, until January 1,
2014, a discretionary pilot project in Los Angeles County to
encourage the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary
model reflecting the best practices for the response of law
enforcement and the criminal and juvenile justice systems to
identify, assess, and address the needs of commercially sexually
exploited children who have been arrested or detained by local
law enforcement for prostitution crimes.