BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1760 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 1760 (Santiago) - As Amended April 26, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Human Services | |6 - 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill directs a peace officer to take specific action when coming in contact with a person who may be a victim of human trafficking. AB 1760 also imposes a number or requirements on AB 1760 Page 2 the Department of Social Services (DSS), Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) related to child trafficking. Specifically, this bill 1)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 such a victim 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. 2)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. 3)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 purpose of separating the minor from his or her trafficker, and further requires the peace officer to transfer the minor to that placement. 4)Requires the existing administrator certification program for group homes, the administrator certification program for short-term residential treatment centers, the mandatory training for licensed or certified foster parents, and the training for mandated child abuse reporters and child welfare personnel be amended to include instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity and related best practices for providing adequate care to child trafficking victims AB 1760 Page 3 5)Requires DSS and DHCS, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to identify tools and best practices to screen, assess, and serve labor-trafficked minors, and report this information to the Legislature by July 1, 2018. 6)Requires (POST), by July 1, 2018, to update its training to include specific instruction on law enforcement responsibilities to determine the status of children as victims of human trafficking, as specified. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown but significant reimbursable state mandated costs (GF) by requiring a local peace officer to undertake additional activities related to minors suspected of being victims of human trafficking. However, since law enforcement agencies are already mandated reporters, it is not clear the actual activity that is reimbursable. One-time cost in the range of $250,000 to $300,000 (GF) to DSS for two or three positions to staff the working group and amend the certification programs. One-time cost of $230,000 (GF) for POST to update their human trafficking training guidelines and curricula by July 1, 2018. One-time cost in the range of $150,000 (GF) to DHCS for 1.5 positions to coordinate with DSS. COMMENTS: AB 1760 Page 4 1)Purpose. According to the author, "Child victims of human trafficking are forced, induced, or coerced into providing labor services, or sex. A trafficked child may be compelled to engage in illegal activities such as prostitution or selling drugs. Instead of being identified as trafficked and treated as victims, many are treated as criminals and prosecuted for the very crimes that were part of the traffickers' victimization and profit. "Currently in California, a minor can be prosecuted for prostitution and for non-violent crimes their traffickers forced them to commit. Arrest and prosecution further traumatizes the victim and leaves him or her with a profound distrust of law enforcement. This can deter victims from seeking assistance or leave them vulnerable to continued exploitation." This bill would assist in insuring that law enforcement offices, other stakeholders, and providers receive the appropriate training to better assist the victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking and where necessary the appropriate treatment and services for the care and treatment of exploited children. This bill would further provide for a consistent and appropriate legal response to minors who are victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. 2)Support: According to The California Public Defenders Association, while law enforcement officers are often the earliest to respond to minors that are the victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, many law enforcement personnel do not recognize commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors as serious problems. As a result, they fail to identify victims of these AB 1760 Page 5 crimes and may be uncertain about how to handle these cases. 3)Oppose. According to The California State Sheriffs' Association, "It is not the role of a frontline law enforcement officer to make a determination that a person is actually the victim of a crime. Rather, officers gather facts and investigate crime scenes to form reasonable beliefs about what might have transpired. It is the duty of the prosecutor to allege liability and victim status, and perhaps confer immunity to certain parties. This bill jumbles that relationship and requires peace officers to effectively determine whether or not certain persons are criminally liable for their behavior." AB 1760 Page 6 4)Related Legislation: a) AB 1675 (Stone), also on today's calendar, provides that a minor who commits the crimes of solicitation, prostitution, or loitering with the intent to commit prostitution, is subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile dependency court rather than delinquency court. b) AB 1731 (Atkins), currently in this committee's Suspense file, authorizes the chief probation officer of a county to create a program to provide services to youth within the county that address the need for services relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of youth. c) AB 1761 (Weber), also on today's calendar, creates an affirmative defense against a charge of a nonviolent crime that was committed as a direct result of being a human trafficking victim. AB 1761 is being heard in this committee today. d) AB 1762 (Campos), also on today's calendar, allows an individual convicted of a nonviolent crime while he or she was human trafficking victim to apply to the court to vacate the conviction at any time after it was entered. e) SB 1322 (Mitchell), in Senate Appropriations Committee, decriminalizes specified prostitution related offenses committed by a person under 18, but authorizes a peace officer to take a minor into temporary custody. 5)Prior Legislation: a) AB 1585 (Alejo), Chapter 708, Statutes of 2014, provides that a defendant who has been convicted of solicitation or prostitution may petition the court to set aside the conviction if the defendant can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the conviction was the result of his or her status as a victim of human trafficking. AB 1760 Page 7 b) AB 2040 (Swanson), Chapter 197, Statutes of 2012, provides that a person who was adjudicated a ward of the court for the commission of a violation of specified provisions prohibiting prostitution may petition a court to have his or her records sealed as these records pertain to the prostitution offenses without showing that he or she has not been subsequently convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or that rehabilitation has been attained. c) AB 1940 (Hill), 2012, would have authorized a court to seal a record of conviction for prostitution based on a finding that the petitioner is a victim of human trafficking, that the offense is the result of the petitioner's status as a victim of that crime, and that the petitioner is therefore factually innocent. AB 1940 was held in this committee's Suspense file. d) 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, providing trafficking victims with protection from deportation and created the human trafficking task force. Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 1760 Page 8