BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1760
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 1760
(Santiago) - As Amended April 14, 2016
SUBJECT: Human trafficking
SUMMARY: Adopts a number of requirements for the Health and
Human Services Agency, Department of Social Services (DSS),
counties, and other entities, related to providing services for
child trafficking victims.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that the administrator certification programs for
group homes and for short-term residential treatment centers,
mandatory training for licensed or certified foster parents,
and training for mandated child abuse reporters and child
welfare personnel include instruction on cultural competency
and sensitivity and related best practices for providing
adequate care to child trafficking victims, as specified.
2)Defines "human trafficking victim" as a person who is the
victim of certain acts, including, but not limited to,
deprivation or violation of his or her personal liberty with
the intent to obtain forced labor or services, and commercial
sexual exploitation of a minor, as specified.
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3)Requires a peace officer, when coming into contact with a
person who is suspected to be a victim of human trafficking,
to make best efforts to determine if the person is a victim of
human trafficking, and further authorizes a peace officer to
seek the assistance of human trafficking experts, as
specified, to make a determination whether a person is a minor
who is a human trafficking victim.
4)Requires a peace officer to record the determination and
provide it to the district attorney when that officer has both
determined that a minor is a victim of human trafficking and
also suspects that the minor has committed other crimes as a
direct result of being a human trafficking victim.
5)Requires a peace officer to report suspected abuse or neglect
of a minor who is determined to be a victim of human
trafficking to the appropriate agency, and requires the peace
officer to consult with a child welfare worker regarding safe
placement for the minor for the purposes of separating the
minor from his or her trafficker, and further requires the
peace officer to transfer the minor to that placement.
6)Provides that a minor may be taken into temporary protective
custody upon a reasonable belief that, among other things as
specified, such custody is necessary to protect the minor from
a person found or suspected to have committed human
trafficking.
7)Requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) to, by July 1, 2018, update its training to
include specific instruction on law enforcement
responsibilities to determine the status of children as
victims of human trafficking, as specified.
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8)Expands Legislative findings and declarations regarding the
inclusion of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC)
within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to also
encompass children who are human trafficking victims, as
specified.
9)Establishes the State Plan to Serve and Protect Child
Trafficking Victims, the purpose of which is to establish a
framework for serving children who are victims of human
trafficking, and further requires DSS, in the implementation
of the continuum of care reform, to ensure the necessary care,
support, social service needs, and treatment of child
trafficking victims in the child welfare system.
10)Requires the California Health and Human Services Agency
(Agency) to, by January 30, 2017, convene an interagency
workgroup in consultation with the California Child Welfare
Council to continue the work already being done under the
council's direction, as specified.
11)Requires the interagency workgroup to:
a) Be composed of representatives from specified entities;
b) Conduct a thorough review of existing programs and
services for child trafficking victims to identify areas of
need;
c) Develop strategies and recommendations for policies,
interagency response protocols, and services, as specified;
and
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d) Develop a comprehensive state plan to serve and protect
sexually exploited and trafficked minors, to be submitted
to the Legislature, Judicial Council and the Governor by
January 30, 2018, as specified.
12)Requires DSS, in consultation with specified entities, to
create a working group to develop recommendations for the
board, care, and supervision of child trafficking victims who
are in need of specialized support and services, as specified.
13)Requires DSS, with suggestions from specified stakeholders,
to identify, develop, and disseminate screening tools for use
by county child welfare and probation staff to identify
children who are, or are at risk of becoming, child
trafficking victims and further requires DSS, no later than
December 31, 2017, to provide counties with guidance on the
use of the screening tools.
14)Requires DSS and the Department of Health Care Services, in
consultation with specified stakeholders, to identify tools
and best practices to screen, assess, and serve child
trafficking victims and further requires DSS to develop
curriculum and provide training to local multidisciplinary
teams by December 31, 2017.
15)Requires DSS, in consultation with the County Welfare
Directors Association and the interagency workgroup, to ensure
that the Child Welfare Services Case Management System is
capable of collecting data concerning child trafficking
victims, as specified.
16)Requires each county to develop an interagency protocol to be
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utilized in serving child trafficking victims, that, among
other things, identifies the roles and responsibilities of
county based agencies and local service responders in serving
victims of trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation.
Further requires each county's protocol to be adopted by the
board of supervisors no later than June 30, 2017.
17)Requires the California Child Welfare Council to provide
recommendations and updates to the State Plan to Serve and
Protect Child Trafficking Victims.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires law enforcement agencies to use due diligence to
identify all victims of human trafficking, regardless of the
person's citizenship. (PEN 236.2)
2)Specifies that when a peace officer comes into contact with a
person who has been deprived of his or her personal liberty, a
minor who has engaged in a commercial sex act, a person
suspected of violating specified prostitution offenses, or a
victim of a crime of domestic violence or sexual assault, the
peace officer shall consider if certain indicators of human
trafficking are present. (PEN 236.2)
3)States that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or
services is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished,
as specified. (PEN 236.1(a))
4)States that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a
violation of specified sex offenses, is guilty of human
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trafficking and shall be punished, as specified. (PEN
236.1(b))
5)States that any person who causes or persuades, or attempts to
cause or persuade, a person who is a minor to engage in a
commercial sex act, with the intent to effect a violation of
specified sex offenses, is guilty of human trafficking and
shall be punished as specified. (PEN 236.1(c)(1) and (2))
6)Defines "commercial sex act" as "sexual conduct on account of
which anything of value is given or received by any person."
(PEN 236.1 (h)(2))
7)Defines commercially sexually exploited children as a child
who is sexually trafficked or receives food or shelter in
exchange for the performance of certain sexual acts, as
specified. (WIC 300)
8)Requires that the administrator certification program for
group homes, the administrator certification program for
short-term residential treatment centers, mandatory training
for licensed or certified foster parents, and training for
mandated child abuse reporters and child welfare personnel to
include cultural competency and sensitivity and related best
practices for children across diverse ethnic and racial
backgrounds, gender identity, mental or physical ability, or
HIV status. (HSC 1522.1 et seq., HSC 1529.2 et seq.)
9)Requires mandated child abuse providers to participate in
training programs that include ways to address critical
issues, as specified. (WIC 16206)
10)Specifies that POST shall implement by January 1, 2007, a
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course or courses of instruction for the training of law
enforcement officers in California in the handling of human
trafficking complaints and also shall develop guidelines for
law enforcement response to human trafficking. ( PEN
13519.14(a))
11)States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide
maximum safety and protection for children who are being
physically, sexually or emotionally abused, neglected, or
exploited and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical
and emotional well-being of children at risk of such harm.
(WIC 300.2)
12)Specifies the circumstances under which a child is within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court. (WIC 300, et seq.)
13)Specifies the circumstances under which a probation officer
may choose to temporarily detain a minor. (WIC 305 et seq.)
14)States the intent of the Legislature that no child or youth
in foster care reside in group care for longer than one year.
Further requires DSS to update the Legislature regarding the
outcomes of assessments of children and youth who have been in
group homes for longer than one year and the corresponding
outcomes of transitions, or plans to transition them, into
family settings. (WIC 16010.8)
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15)Establishes the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act, which places a number of
requirements on states, including a number of improvements to
the child welfare system aimed at improving outcomes for
children and youth in foster care. (P.L. 113-183)
16)States the intent of the Legislature that foster parents, and
potential foster parents, receive training in order to assist
them in being effective caregivers and to enhance the safety
and growth of children placed with them. Further states the
need to develop a basic curriculum, a program for continuing
education, and specialized training for parents caring for
children with unique needs. (HSC 1529.1)
17)Establishes the Child Welfare Council to monitor and report
the extent to which child welfare and foster care programs and
the courts are responsive to the needs of children in their
joint care. (WIC 16540, et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC): Commercial
sexual exploitation of children is defined as the sexual
exploitation of children entirely, or at least primarily, for
financial or other economic reasons. Under this definition, the
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economic exchanges may be either monetary or non-monetary (i.e.,
for food, shelter, drugs). Sex trafficking of minors is defined
as the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act"
where the person is a United States citizen or lawful permanent
resident under the age of 18 years.
According to DSS, approximately 800,000 victims annually are
trafficked across international borders worldwide, and between
14,500-17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the United
States. Nearly 95% of CSEC victims in the U.S. are female, and
it is estimated that between 50-80% of child victims of
commercial sexual exploitation have been involved with the child
welfare system, according to the National Center for Youth Law.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, it is estimated that one in six endangered runaways
were likely sex trafficking victims in 2014. Many experts
believe, however, that these statistics are underestimated;
challenges arise when identifying victims, collecting and
cross-referencing data, and deciding on common definitions in
order to collect accurate statistics. Many youth also do not
identify as victims or may be reluctant to admit to
victimization due to fears of retaliation from traffickers,
deportation, or incarceration by law enforcement.
Labor trafficking of minors: While many victims of human
trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sex
entertainment industry, trafficking also occurs in forms of
labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, restaurant work,
janitorial work, sweatshop factory work, and migrant
agricultural work. U.S. law defines "severe forms of
trafficking" as:
Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by
force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced
to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
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the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the
use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
subjection or involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage,
or slavery.
It is estimated that children make up 72% of labor trafficking
cases involving peddling rings nationwide. Because child
survivors of sex trafficking represent the most visible group in
mainstream media, academia, and government policy, child labor
trafficking is often excluded and its victims are
under-identified and under-assisted. According to information
from the Freedom Network USA, child survivors of labor
trafficking oftentimes suffer through longer periods of
exploitation and abuse due to law enforcement and social
services providers failing to identify them as trafficked in a
timely manner.
Child Labor Trafficking Work Group: In 2014, Governor Brown
vetoed AB 2035 (Chesbro), which stated that a child who is a
victim of human trafficking, is a victim of sexual exploitation,
or is paid to perform sexual acts, is within the jurisdiction of
the juvenile court. In his veto message, Governor Brown stated
that the bill was premature and "more investigation and
discussion needs to take place before local authorities are in a
solid position to curb the tragedy of young people who are
forced to work under illegal and unacceptable conditions. I am
directing the Department of Social Services to assemble relevant
parties to explore all avenues that can be pursued to alleviate
this suffering." In response to the Governor's veto message, in
2015, DSS created the Child Labor Trafficking Work Group,
comprised of state and national experts, policymakers, victims,
providers, advocates and others, and held several meetings in
2015.
Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking (PACT): In 2014,
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DSS received a grant of approximately $250,000 from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Agency for a project
aimed at addressing child trafficking by developing
multidisciplinary collaboration with state and local partners.
The project would create a best practice program model that will
include protocols, tools, and service trainings, while
collecting and distributing data and findings to California
counties that have the highest risk for child trafficking,
including Alameda, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San
Bernardino, San Joaquin, and San Luis Obispo.
PACT Grant funding will be used to create a Child Labor
Trafficking Steering Committee and will continue the work
started by DSS and the Child Labor Trafficking work Group. In
January 2016, the Steering Committee was established and will
establish the Child Labor Trafficking Working Sub-Committee
which will hold bi-monthly calls, beginning in March 2016 and
will be tasked with performing research on child labor
trafficking, report on findings, and create tentative
recommendations to address child labor trafficking by January 1,
2017.
Child Welfare Council: Established by AB 2216 (Bass), Chapter
384, Statutes of 2006, the Child Welfare Leadership and
Accountability Act established the California Child Welfare
Council to serve as an advisory body responsible for improving
the collaboration and processes of the multiple agencies and the
courts that serve the children and youth in the child welfare
and foster care systems. The Council is required to report at
least annually to the Governor, the Legislature, the Judicial
Council, and the public at least once a year the extent to which
child welfare and foster care programs and the courts are
responsive to the needs of children in their care.
The Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Action Team
falls within the jurisdiction of the Child Welfare Council and
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is a multidisciplinary body dedicated to researching and
identifying promising prevention and intervention practices,
collaborating with survivors, providing guidance to county
agencies and community partners, and conducting evaluation to
ensure policies improve outcomes for children. In June 2016,
the CSEC Action Team will launch the survivor advisory board
which will provide critical guidance to California counties with
regard to survivor engagement. It will also provide
recommendations on CSEC Action Team priorities, state policy,
and other topics as brought to the attention of the CSEC Action
Team by counties or state agencies. The CSEC Action Team will
also continue to work with DSS as it continues to overhaul the
foster care system through Continuum of Care Reform.
Continuum of Care Reform: The Legislature has worked and
continues to work with various entities in and around the CWS
system to focus on family reunification and permanency by
seeking ways to best address the needs of foster youth through
less restrictive, more supportive placements and services. SB
1013 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 35, Statutes of
2012, realigned CWS to counties, established a moratorium on the
licensing of new group homes, and required DSS to convene a
stakeholder workgroup. This workgroup was charged with
examining the use of group homes in California and providing
recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on how to
reform this use. In January 2015, DSS submitted the Continuum
of Care (CCR) workgroup report to the Legislature, which
included general and fiscal recommendations, alongside
recommendations on home-based family care, residential
treatment, and performance measures and outcomes. The report
reinforced the view that group home settings are best used
sparingly and temporarily, stating that:
"The foundation of [these] recommendations is that all
children, including those in out-of home care, deserve to
grow up in families and develop a sense of community.
Their families, including foster families, also at times
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need assistance and support to address stressors to avert
crises. For those children and youth in crisis or whom
otherwise initially cannot safely get the appropriate
breadth and/or intensity of services they require in a
family based setting, they can access high quality, short
term, treatment oriented congregate care (which includes
planning for a move to home-based family care as soon as
reasonably possible)."
Need for this bill: According to the author's office, "There
has been increasing recognition among advocates and political
leaders on the importance of addressing commercial child
exploitation - for both sex and labor services - recognizing
that both can involve trauma bonds with their traffickers.
[This bill] puts into statute the work the Commercially Sexually
Exploited Children (CSEC) Action Team is currently doing for
children who have been commercially sexually exploited, and
expands this work to also include children who have been
exploited for labor services. By using a system that is already
in place, this measure provides a cost effective reform to
ensure our state effectively combats human trafficking on both
fronts. This bill is necessary to protect all trafficked child
victims from further victimization and it ensures there is a
system in place that effectively identifies, houses, and cares
for all trafficked children."
STAFF COMMENTS:
How will this bill impact the work of the CSEC Action Team? The
work of the CSEC Action Team is well underway. Codifying the
Action Team's existence at this point, and simultaneously
expanding its scope well beyond the current target population
upon which so much work has been focused, may create
redundancies, inefficiencies, and administrative confusion,
while at the same time limiting the Action Team's flexibility
and diffusing already limited resources. While identifying all
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trafficked youth, assessing their particular needs, and
developing and harnessing services to address those needs are
all important goals, it remains questionable whether or not the
approach proposed by this bill would sufficiently meet those
goals or coordinate properly with already-existing systems and
efforts (including both the work of the CSEC Action Team, as
well as current CCR efforts).
Should all trafficking victims be placed within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court? As it is currently written, this bill
requires that all victims of trafficking, including CSEC and
labor trafficked minors, be potentially placed within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court for potential adjudication as
a dependent and therefore placed within the child welfare
services system. However, while CSEC and labor trafficked
children may experience similar instances of emotional and
sexual abuse, minors who are victims of labor trafficking may
not always encounter the human trafficking world in similar
ways. Some CSEC are already involved with the child welfare
services system and are preyed upon by traffickers for
exploitation. Labor trafficked minors, however, include
children who are trafficked for various types of labor,
including agriculture, and may often be brought across the
border from other countries. By automatically including labor
trafficked children as within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court, this bill does not adequately address the unique needs of
labor trafficked children who may not originally be from the
United States and may in fact wish to be reunited with families
in foreign countries. Should this bill move forward, the author
may wish to consider narrowing the range of child trafficking
victims placed within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION:
AB 1730 (Atkins), 2016, authorizes the chief probation officer
of a county to create a program to provide services to youth
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within the county that address the need for services relating to
the commercial sexual exploitation of youth. This bill is
currently on the suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
AB 1997 (Stone), 2016, adopts changes to further facilitate
implementation of CCR recommendations to better serve children
and youth in California's child welfare system. This bill has
been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 403 (Stone), Chapter 773, Statutes of 2015, adopted changes
aimed at implementing a number of recommendations from the DSS
CCR report including establishing a sunset for existing
licensure, rate-setting and provisions for group homes and FFAs
and establishing interim provisions.
SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 29,
Statutes of 2014, provided structure and incentives to encourage
county agencies to collaborate in identifying and serving CSEC.
AB 2035 (Chesbro), 2014, stated that a child who is a victim of
human trafficking, is a victim of sexual exploitation, or is
paid to perform sexual acts, is within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court, and would have required instruction on cultural
competency, sensitivity, and best practices for specified
administrators and individuals. This bill was vetoed by the
Governor.
AB 22 (Lieber), Chapter 240, Statutes of 2005, created the
California Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which established
civil and criminal penalties for human trafficking and allowed
for forfeiture of assets derived from human trafficking. In
addition, the Act required law enforcement agencies to provide
Law Enforcement Agency Endorsement to trafficking victims,
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providing trafficking victims with protection from deportation
and created the human trafficking task force.
SECOND COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE . This bill was previously heard
in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on April 12, 2016 and
was approved on a 7-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
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