BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1730
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1730 (Atkins) - As Introduced January 28, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes the chief probation officer of a county to
create a program to provide services to youth within the county
relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of youth.
Funding for the program is contingent upon an appropriation in
the annual Budget Act, to be administered by the Board of State
and Community Corrections.
FISCAL EFFECT:
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Unknown General Fund Budget pressure in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars to create and properly staff programs at
the county level to provide wraparound services to sexually
exploited youth.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Current law states that "sexual exploitation"
refers to a person who knowingly promotes, aids, or assists,
employs, uses, persuades, induces, or coerces a child, or a
person responsible for the welfare of a child, who knowingly
permits or encourages a child to engage in, or assist others
to engage in, prostitution or a live performance involving
obscene sexual conduct, or to either pose or model alone or
with others for purposes of preparing a film, photograph,
negative, slide, drawing, painting or other pictorial
depiction involving obscene sexual conduct. Current law also
allows local agencies to human trafficking, to ensure that
victims are able to access all needed services in one location
in order to enhance victim safety.
Probation officers are involved throughout juvenile criminal
justice proceedings. The probation department may be used at
the "front end" of the juvenile justice system for first-time,
low-risk offenders or at the "back end" as an alternative to
institutional confinement for more serious offenders. The
responsibilities of juvenile probation departments include the
intake screening of cases referred to juvenile courts,
predisposition or presentence investigation of juveniles, and
court-ordered supervision of juvenile offenders.
Juvenile victims of human trafficking enter the juvenile
justice system when they are arrested for a crime that might,
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or might not be, related to the fact that they are a victim of
human trafficking. To the extent that effective
rehabilitation for those juveniles is going to take place, it
is important to have resources to address the needs of those
juveniles as victims of human trafficking.
The Legislature has authorized pilot programs in Alameda and
Los Angeles Counties to create, implement, and deliver
standardized training curricula that would provide a protocol
for law enforcement and social services to assess and
recognize sexually exploited minors within the juvenile
justice system.
2)Purpose. According to the author, "there are few facilities
around the state that have the comprehensive services
necessary to assist in the recovery and care of these child
victims. Child sex trafficking victims have specific needs;
many have suffered the same level of trauma as a prisoner of
war. Without these services, or without a place to go,
victims often end up back on the streets with their
traffickers."
Subject to funding in the Budget Act, AB 1730 creates a program
that would provide commercially sexually exploited children a
safe place to stay with trauma-informed, mental health
services that can help them recover and thrive. The program's
design criteria will include assessment of the youth victim's
condition; development and recommendations for permanent
placement solutions; staff experienced to work with these
victims as well as survivor, peer mentors; and a secure and
protective service delivery setting secluded from the victim's
trafficking environment, such as a geographically remote
location, a staff protective presence, or any combination of
strategies intended to protect the victim.
3)Support: According to San Diego Office of the District
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Attorney, "AB 1730 will provide the opportunity for the chief
probation officer to create a program that will provide
specific services to youth affected by this criminal
enterprise. The program could also include physical and
mental health assessments for the young victims, and
counseling services to deal with trauma and stigma of being a
victim of human trafficking. Peer mentors may be utilized in
the design and provision of service delivery. This program
may also provide plans for protection of the victim away from
the trafficking environment. These provisions are innovative,
and will serve a very specific victim that current, local
services may not be able to reach."
4)Related Legislation: AB 1731 (Atkins), creates the Statewide
Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force to gather statewide
data on human trafficking, to recommend interagency protocols
and best practices for training and outreach to law
enforcement, victim service providers, and other state and
private sector employees likely to encounter sex trafficking,
and to evaluate and implement approaches to increase public
awareness about human trafficking. AB 1731 will be heard in
this committee today.
5)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 1623 (Atkins), Chapter 85, Statutes of 2014,
authorizes a local government or nonprofit organization to
establish a family justice center to assist specified types
of crime victims, including victims of human trafficking.
b) AB 799 (Swanson), Chapter 51, Statutes of 2011, extended
the pilot program in Alameda County until January 1, 2017
(Please see (d)).
c) SB 1279 (Pavley), Chapter 116, Statutes of 2010,
established a pilot project in Los Angeles County to
create, implement, and deliver standardized training
curricula that
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would provide a protocol for law enforcement and social services
to assess and recognize sexually exploited minors within the
juvenile justice system.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081