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 billbegin delete wouldend deletebegin insert would, only until January 1, 2022,end 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, the chief probation officer of the county would be required 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.begin insert
The bill would state that the purpose of the pilot project is to test a service model that would produce improved outcomes for youth victims of human trafficking. The bill would authorize the participating county to determine whether the probation department, the county child welfare agency, or both the probation department and the county child welfare agency would participate in the pilot project. The bill would also require a county that establishes a pilot program pursuant to these provisions to conduct at least one evaluation of the program’s impact and effectiveness and to submit that evaluation to the board.end insert The bill would provide that the pilot projects established pursuant to these provisions would be funded 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:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Worldwide, human trafficking is a $32,000,000,000 per year
4industry.
5(b) After drug trafficking and counterfeiting, it is the world’s
6most profitable criminal activity.
7(c) Although this issue was previously believed to be an
8international problem, current statistics show that human trafficking
9is increasingly a domestic issue.
10(d) According to estimates by the Federal Bureau of
11Investigation
(FBI), human trafficking or the commercial sexual
12exploitation of children in the United States currently involves
13over 100,000 children. The San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles,
P3 1and San Diego metropolitan areas comprise three of the nation’s
213 areas of “high intensity” child exploitation in this country, as
3defined by the FBI.
4(e) Studies have estimated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80
5percent of victims of commercial sexual exploitation are, or
6previously were, involved with the child welfare system.
7(f) Law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, and
8public health systems, as well as nonprofit organizations, currently
9serve these victims, but often lack coordination in providing
10services. These systems do not yet consistently recognize these
11young people as
victims who are subject to the cycle of commercial
12sexual exploitation. Although they are learning to identify victims,
13they do not yet have adequate service design, nor capacity, to
14provide specialized services. Integrated strategies are necessary
15in order to help child victims of sexual exploitation in California
16and to ascertain the service models and strategies that are effective
17in the recovery of the child and the child’s future.
18(g) According to the California Child Welfare Council, there is
19a dearth of specialized placements and services to help youth and
20their families when commercial sexual exploitation occurs.
21Although legislation has recently been enacted to permit these
22victims to enter the child welfare system in order to facilitate
23
placements and the provision of other essential services to these
24victims, and other important implementation efforts are underway,
25specially attuned services do not yet exist.
Section 893.5 is added to the Welfare and
28Institutions Code, to read:
(a) The Board of State and Community Corrections
30shall establish a pilot project in each of the Counties of Sacramento,
31San Diego, and Santa Clara, in which, if the county elects to
32participate in the pilot project, the chief probation officer of the
33county shall create a program to provide services to youth within
34his or her jurisdiction that addresses the need for services relating
35to the commercial sexual exploitation of youth.begin insert The purpose of
36the pilot project is to test a service model that would produce
37improved outcomes for youth victims of human trafficking.end insertbegin insert The
38
participating county may determine whether the probation
39department, the county child welfare agency, or both the probation
P4 1department and the county child welfare agency shall participate
2in the pilot project.end insert
3(b) Programs that receive funding pursuant to this section shall
4be licensed by the State Department of Social Services and may
5include, but shall not be limited to, programs that do the following:
6(1) Assess the youth victim’s condition, including a review of
7the extent of trauma suffered, physical and mental health, and the
8status of age-appropriate developmental factors, such as educational
9status.
10(2) Serve exploited youth in a services-rich environment,
11including trauma-informed counseling
services.
12(3) Research options, make recommendations, and work to find
13solutions to provide specialized services and permanent placement
14solutions for the youth.
15(4) Provide staff who are trained to work with, and experienced
16in working with, child sex trafficking victims.
17(5) Include peer mentors in the design and provision of service
18delivery.
19(6) Provide a plan for how to structure a protective setting
20secluded from the victim’s trafficking environment, which could
21include strategies such as a geographically remote location, staff
22protective presence, delayed egress, or any combination of
23strategies intended to protect the victim.
24
(c) A county that establishes a pilot program pursuant to this
25section shall conduct at least one evaluation of the program’s
26impact and effectiveness. The evaluation shall include, but not be
27limited to, monitoring the program’s effect on youth being served,
28if any, and its effectiveness with respect to program participants,
29including outcome-related data for program participants compared
30to youth who do not participate in the pilot. The county shall submit
31the evaluation to the board.
32(c)
end delete
33begin insert(end insertbegin insertd)end insert The pilot projects established pursuant to this section shall
34be funded contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget
35Act. Funds appropriated for these purposes shall be administered
36by the Board of State and Community Corrections.
P5 1
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022,
2and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
3is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.
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