Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1730

Introduced by Assembly Members Atkins and Eggman

begin insert

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Olsen and Quirk)

end insert begin insert

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Burke, Campos, Chiu, Dodd, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gonzalez, and Mark Stone)

end insert

January 28, 2016

An act to add Section 893.5 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to human trafficking.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1730, as amended, Atkins. Human trafficking: minors.

Existing law proscribes the crime of human trafficking, as defined. A person who causes, induces, or persuades, or attempts to cause, induce, or persuade, a person who is a minor at the time of commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of any of specified sex offenses, is guilty of human trafficking. Existing law also proscribes the crime of prostitution.

Existing law authorizes or requires, as specified, the probation officer of a county to exercise various duties with respect to a minor who has been found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court on the ground that he or she has violated a law or statute, or that he or she has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that he or she will suffer, abuse or neglect.

Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California’s adult and juvenile criminal justice system.

This bill would begin delete authorize end delete begin insert require the Board of State and Community Corrections to establish a pilot project in each of the Counties of Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Clara, in which, if the county elects to participate in the pilot project, end insert the chief probation officer of begin delete a end delete begin insert the end insert county begin insert would be required end insert to create a program to provide services to youth within his or her jurisdiction that address the need for services relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of youth. The bill would provide that begin delete funding for these purposes shall be end delete begin insert the pilot projects established pursuant to these provisions would be funded end insert contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The bill would provide that funds appropriated for these purposes shall be administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Worldwide, human trafficking is a $32,000,000,000 per year
industry.

(b) After drug trafficking and counterfeiting, it is the world’s
most profitable criminal activity.

(c) Although this issue was previously believed to be an
international problem, current statistics show that human trafficking
is increasingly a domestic issue.

(d) According to estimates by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), human trafficking or the commercial sexual
exploitation of children in the United States currently involves
over 100,000 children. The San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles,
and San Diego metropolitan areas comprise three of the nation’s
13 areas of “high intensity” child exploitation in this country, as
defined by the FBI.

(e) Studies have estimated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80
percent of victims of commercial sexual exploitation are, or
previously were, involved with the child welfare system.

(f) Law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, and
public health systems, as well as nonprofit organizations, currently
serve these victims, but often lack coordination in providing
services. These systems do not yet consistently recognize these
young people as victims who are subject to the cycle of commercial
sexual exploitation. Although they are learning to identify victims,
they do not yet have adequate service design, nor capacity, to
provide specialized services. Integrated strategies are necessary
in order to help child victims of sexual exploitation in California
and to ascertain the service models and strategies that are effective
in the recovery of the child and the child’s future.

(g) According to the begin insert California end insert Child Welfare Council, there
is a dearth of specialized placements and services to help youth
and their families when commercial sexual exploitation occurs.
Although legislation has recently been enacted to permit these
victims to enter the child welfare system in order to facilitate
placements and the provision of other essential services to these
victims, and other important implementation efforts are underway,
specially attuned services do not yet exist.

SEC. 2.  

Section 893.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

893.5.  

(a) The begin insert Board of State and Community Corrections
shall establish a pilot project in each of the Counties of
Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Clara, in which, if the county
elects to participate end insert begin insert in the pilot project, the end insert chief probation officer
of begin delete a county may end delete begin insert the county shall end insert create a program to provide
services to youth within his or her jurisdiction that addresses the
need for services relating to the commercial sexual exploitation
of youth.

(b) Programs that receive funding pursuant to this section begin insert shall
be licensed by the State Department of Social Services and end insert may
include, but shall not be limited to, programs begin delete licensed by the State
Department of Social Services end delete that do begin delete any of end delete the following:

(1) Assess the youth victim’s condition, including a review of
the extent of trauma suffered, physical and mental health, and the
status of age-appropriate developmental factors, such as educational
status.

(2) Serve exploited youth in a services-rich environment,
including trauma-informed counseling services.

(3) Research options, make recommendations, and work to find
solutions to provide specialized services and permanent placement
solutions for the youth.

(4) Provide staff who are trained to work with, and experienced
in working with, child sex trafficking victims.

(5) Include peer mentors in the design and provision of service
delivery.

(6) Provide a plan for how to structure a protective setting
secluded from the victim’s trafficking environment, which could
include strategies such as a geographically remote location, staff
protective presence, delayed egress, or any combination of
strategies intended to protect the victim.

(c)  begin delete Funding for the purposes described in end delete begin insert The pilot projects
established pursuant to end insert this section shall be begin insert funded end insert contingent
upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. Funds
appropriated for these purposes shall be administered by the Board
of State and Community Corrections.